Sam,elk and deer do not eat the same thing in the same proportions.Elk are grazers and they're able to dig through deep snow to get to grasses.On top of that,How much money does the PGC actually spend on the elk and alot of these studies on non-game species?Much of that is funded by grants from nature conservancies and organizations like the RMEF and NWTF.I went out with the PGC last Feb to trap and tag turkeys for a gobbler mortality study.Almost everything the PGC used,was paid for by the NWTF.