Gator,
Good reply,You emphasized several times about getting the animal cooled off as soon as possible.As important as it is with a deer.I firmly believe its way more important with an elk.
The hide is way heavier on an elk,thus providing lots more insulation to keep the heat in.
Gut an elk on a cool morning,and seeing the steam rise out of it stomach cavity should give you a pretty good idea how much heat is stored up in there.
Its nice to keep your meat as clean as possible,but its second to cooling ot as soon as possible.You can always clean the meat later.
When I have my deer and elk hung,I always use a bottle of white vinegar in a tub of water, to wipe my animal down with.It makes it a lot easier to get the hair off.I've even used a garden hose to rinse them first.Getting the heavy blood and hair and dirt off..People have told me not to because it makes the meat tough,but that has not been my experience at all.
I dont worry too much about the meat drying on the outside.I usually trim the outer film off when I cut my steaks anyhow.
Its pretty nice to have some of those disposable latex gloves on you when gutting and skinning.It makes cleaning your hands a whole lot easier when your done.
Once again when it comes to elk,heat sucks.
If I dont have a cooler to store the animal in.I use the temperature of the days and nights as an indicater of how long to let it hang.Usually between 3-5 days.