Yep, looks wet.Looks wet to me.
There is a creek just down the hill, that's probably it.Any chance he had to swim The Elk before he walked in front of your camera? Looks like he just took a dip.
Agree on wet. It I have killed 2 deer from different states that had a mane and it was darker colored like that. Taxidermist said he sees them occasionally. Very neat looking on mount.This fella just looks odd, maybe just coloration, but seems off to me.