Charles Gifford wrote:
> > > Elk is deer.
> >
> A moose is sometimes an elk too and, of course, the other way around
as
> well. Common names are notoriously unreliable. I certainly would not
hunt
> anything, as I find it barbarous, so I know nothing about licenses to
kill.
>
> Charlie.

They are all hoofed mammals, if that is as closely as you want to
classify animals, but they are not the same, any more than sheep and
goats are. Even a non-barbarous non-hunter wouldn't claim that a deer
looks like an elk, looks like a moose. And if you had eaten them you'd
know they are different, too. Their diet also makes a very big
difference in taste. Deer from Southeast Alaska and, say, Wyoming
won't taste the same. Aficionados know beyond doubt that the Sitka
blacktail deer is the best tasting venison in the world. Aficionados
is defined, of course, as our friends from Southeast Alaska.

-aem