If you have the money available go straight to the source and get a Phil Wilson Southfork or any number of his custom hunting knives with his exceptional heat treat. With materials such as S110V, S90V, K294, M4, etc.... you would be set to process multiple elk before needing to worry about any touching up.
Another thing to consider is technique. When done right your blade shouldn't be coming into contact with the fur side of the hide except to make the small initial incision when gutting and then when severing the front and hind quarter knee joints. My recommendation would be to look at some video's on youtube of the gutless method. I would consider going with a custom fillet knife if you were to go this route instead of a traditional hunting pattern as it will work excellent for doing the skinning and then excel when boning out the meat. The more weight you can leave with the carcass the less weight you have to pack out which is why I prefer to bone my animals out in the field if I have any great distance to cover. If you know what you are doing, get your technique down, you don't need anything special though. I processed two medium size Bison with a Sog Twitch II. It was all I could afford at the time and it worked surprisingly well, the key is to always keep the cutting edge on the flesh side of the hide.
One last recommendation I have is to get a knife with a bright scale material to lessen the chance of leaving the knife behind. Most people I know who have lost a knife in the field while hunting had it occur when they were processing the animal. They finish up, set the knife covered with blood, sinew, etc... down to get themselves cleaned up, start prepping for the pack out and completely forget about their knife. Best of luck in your search and if you can give us an idea of budget we can provide better advice and direction on what might work for you.
