Elk love open grasslands and meadows, often moving in large herds that are easy to spot. Deer, especially white-tailed and mule deer, prefer denser woods and tend to be more solitary or form smaller groups.
That’s a major clue for hunters trying to identify where to shoot (safely and ethically, of course) during elk hunting season versus deer season.
While elk once roamed most of North America, today their range is more restricted, with strong populations in the Rocky Mountains, parts of the Pacific Northwest and other areas where reintroduction efforts have been successful.
Deer species are found across the globe, including the forests of North America, the grasslands of Asia, Europe and even in tropical regions, but they are absent from Sub-Saharan Africa, Australia, and Antarctica. Some, like the caribou (aka reindeer), are specially adapted to cold, snowy environments.
