You can leave it on if you like. I always remove just because there is a tough piece of silver skin between the two that I don’t like. If you leave it on then just separate the two pieces while eating and remove that tough piece at that time.
Here’s something to try, make a flat iron steak from the flat part of the shoulder blade. Remove whole and then split it in half to expose the tendon down the middle. Remove the tendon and cook the steak as a whole muscle then slice. I love this cut in beef but haven’t tried it in elk since I haven’t drawn a tag in 5 years.
