>>Photo by author, what I thought was an elk but is a male deer I think
Definitely a stag (a male) deer not an elk.
BTW, you mentioned slipping on ice. You know about microspikes, right? Back in my motorcycle racing days, we'd sometimes race on ice. For that it was standard practice to have knobby tires with (shorter than knob depth!) sheet metal screws screwed into each knob. I've given some thought to doing the same with a pair of winter hiking boots, but the idea of having boots that could easily damage indoor flooring if I forget - and having to take them off outdoors - keeps putting me off.