As far as I know, no one in the state of Washington has ever been charged with murder after killing someone while out hunting. You are supposed to lose your hunting privileges in the state for life if that happens, but at least you stay out of jail and away from the needle.

As far as survival hunting goes, once the SHTF out in the bush, the rules of engagement also change, and I'll resort to traps and snares to catch game rather than continue hunting for them in a survival situation. Elk are real easy to snare, long as you got something with you strong enough to bind them up. Once you get even a big animal mostly off the ground, their weight advantage and most of their strength advantage is pretty near gone. Take out two or more legs and they are easy pickins' after that. A properly dug set of gopher holes in a conspicuous location does about the same to a running elk as it would to a horse.