Well, given that most commercial beef is raised in a non-wild environment, elk meat (Venison), is significantly leaner, because the elk themselves have to do a lot more work to actually survive. Some people note it as having a 'gamey' sort of flavor, and this is mainly due to a more 'wild' diet, as compared to your average beef cow. Venison can be prepared mostly the same way as your standard beef: steaks, roasts, ground into hamburger,stews, soups, chilis (the soup not the vegetable.) Honestly, unless you were looking out for super subtle differences in texture, flavor, and fat content, you'd have a hard time distinguishing it from beef in most cases.