Bull Elk 2026Start high. Come down together. Bring everyone home.

Owners, next steps and open details

1. Jackson · confirm Saturday range access. Ask the neighbor and update the group by the meeting’s “tomorrow” deadline. Target: leave at 5:30 AM, arrive at 6:30 AM / first light. September 19 is Junior’s scheduled rifle session and the upcoming Saturday plan; group range access is still pending, not a confirmed booking. Austin still needs to zero his rifle. Rifle readiness →
2. Kimble · finalize flights and share the exit window. Notes target “by Friday”; confirm the exact calendar deadline. All four come down together Sunday, October 4, or Monday, October 5, depending on flights. Reconcile the road-ready time with the earlier Sunday-night / early-Monday constraint before locking travel. The Tacoma is an onward-driving option, not a confirmed vehicle allocation.
3. Jackson · identify an Evanston meat processor. Verify acceptance, hours, capacity, drop-off and backup; this is a volunteered task, not a booking. Recovery chain →
4. Kimble · coordinate with Todd about SpyCamp. Purpose, availability and any support commitment remain unconfirmed; do not count this as a pickup, meat-hauling or camp-monitor arrangement.
5. Crew · finish the allocations. Jackson brings the tent; confirm model, capacity, partners and carried pieces. Junior covers Austin’s pot/stove; Austin brings a spoon. Verify treatment, communications, first aid, food and fuel for the remaining group after the shared pack-down. Allocation register →
6. Crew · lock travel and resupply details. Friday, October 2, 6:00 AM from Junior’s; pick up Jackson and Austin en route. Confirm pickup times, vehicles/drivers, keys, exact gated trailhead pin, three-day versus longer food carry, and remaining hunters’ return date.
7. Junior · maintain this site. Food and meeting decisions are now reflected here. Open items are not marked complete just because the notes assigned an owner. No group message or calendar change is implied.
8. Crew · verify current access and rules. Check permits, season, boundaries, road/parking access, closures, camping and food storage. Share verified route pins and an overdue plan privately. Official sources →

Relative deadlines above are preserved from the meeting until their exact dates are confirmed. Packing ticks are device-local aids, not completed tasks or shared readiness.

Walk in. Sleep up high. Hunt from spike.

Kabell Lake is the chosen hunt, reached on foot via the Kabell Creek Trail. Exact spike location, campsite suitability, water access and the final approach/exit track still need to be confirmed on the crew’s offline maps.

Observed scout findings · August 27–29

The crew found a glassing knob over the meadow, fresh sign and a big bull above the lake. Preserve those actual pins. This is scout history, not proof the bull or fresh sign will still be there in October. The long pack-out remains the main logistical concern.

Trip sequence

• Friday, October 2 · 6:00 AM: depart Junior’s, with Jackson and Austin picked up en route. Meeting estimate: arrival at the high destination around 1:00–1:30 PM, allowing setup and glassing before dark. Confirm whether that means trailhead or spike arrival; it is not a verified drive/hike schedule. Do not force an unsafe pack-in to meet the estimate.
• Saturday, October 3: planned first hunt day, subject to permit/season verification and safe arrival. Hunt from spike; agree routes, check-ins and turnarounds.
• Day 3 or 4 · Sunday, October 4 / Monday, October 5: pack everything down together toward Hoop for Kimble’s flight-dependent exit. All four descend; no solo mountain exit or separate escort return is planned. Confirm the exact road-ready time, with margin for trail, weather and daylight.
• At the trucks and afterward: regroup; Kimble may drive onward in his dad’s Tacoma. Remaining hunters plan to hunt lower and choose where to operate after checking conditions, supplies, experience and recovery capacity. Truck restock is an option; exact food carry, vehicle retention and final return date remain open. No fixed lower camp or second high pack-in is booked.

Route reference—not a navigation map

The former A/B/C sketch and South Slope GPX anchors have been retired: neither describes this hunt. No replacement coordinates are invented. Current GPX download is unavailable until verified crew waypoints are supplied. Download offline topography and access/unit layers; test maps in airplane mode and share spike, water, glassing, exit and vehicle pins before leaving. This site is not an offline navigation system.

Before any shot

Confirm a legal animal, legal time/place, safe backstop and every partner’s location. Use the actual hunting rifle and ammunition; prove cold-bore hits from the field support you will carry. Set a conservative personal range based on demonstrated performance, wind, angle and stability—not a distance this page grants you. Shooter and spotter both may call a pass; the shooter remains responsible.

Do not shoot if safe retrieval and cooling are beyond the people, time and equipment actually available. After a shot, mark the animal’s position and last sighting, watch and listen, communicate, and plan a careful recovery with an experienced willing person. Do not assume Kimble will be available after his exit.

Glass the scouted country. Adjust to what is there.

• Start with the knob and meadow. Use the scout’s real observations to choose a quiet approach. Time departure from the actual spike location and route, not a blanket two-hour hike from the truck.
• Use cover and check the wind. Thermals often change with slope heating, but drainages, weather and terrain can override the pattern. Test the local wind repeatedly; do not rely on an automatic uphill/downhill rule.
• Glass deliberately. Work openings and timber edges in overlapping passes. Avoid skylining and unnecessary movement; look for pieces of an animal, then positively identify it before any shot.
• Move safely and slowly. Keep boots on, control footing and avoid blind pushes into timber or other hunters. More distance is not automatically better hunting.
• Agree groups before departure. Confirm willing partners, shooter/spotter roles, safe sectors, check-ins and experienced supervision. The four-person plan does not by itself assign two hunting pairs or prove radio/satellite coverage.
• Let conditions set the next move. The meeting plan is to start high, pack down together toward Hoop around day 3 or 4, and have the remaining hunters choose lower hunting after regrouping. Check fresh sign, weather, energy, supplies and recovery capacity before continuing. Snow is not automatically an opportunity; it may be a reason to retreat before access deteriorates.

Anyone may call a safety stop. After the shared pack-down, reallocate equipment and reassess experience before the remaining crew hunts again. Separation and weather checks →

Arrive ready—not worn down.

Scout is done. No completed workouts or current capacity are recorded here. The old twelve-week ladder is retired; there is no catch-up requirement and no automatic 55–60 lb peak ruck.

Remaining work, conditional on recovery

• September 15–20: establish the last comfortably completed load, duration, elevation gain and next-day recovery. If recovered, repeat a familiar conversational loaded hike in hunt boots; increase only one variable if warranted. If recent capacity is unknown, choose a short easy outing rather than a test of limits.
• September 21–27: if the prior outing and recovery went well, do a manageable full-kit fit rehearsal on familiar terrain. Test balance, feet, poles if carried, water access and jacket retrieval. Full kit does not mean arbitrary ballast or a required three-hour march. Reduce the load or duration if needed.
• September 28–October 1: taper. Short easy walking, familiar light movement, packing and sleep. No new exercises, heavy loaded descents or soreness-producing final test.
• Friday morning, October 2: travel and the planned approach are the day’s work—not an extra workout.

A loaded hike replaces the week’s hard lower-body/conditioning session; do not stack both or deliberately exhaust your legs first. Keep familiar lifting submaximal with several clean reps in reserve and lower volume near departure. Stop for pain that changes gait, illness, dizziness or unusual breathlessness. Protect sleep and fuel; drink appropriately rather than forcing excessive water.

Skills count too

• Saturday rifle plan: September 19 is Junior’s scheduled session; the group targets a 5:30 AM departure and 6:30 AM / first-light arrival, subject to Jackson confirming his neighbor’s range access. Austin still needs to zero; the notes also say “before Friday,” so clarify that deadline rather than treating Saturday as satisfying an earlier Friday. Use actual hunting ammunition and supported field positions. No attendance or completed zero is certified here.
• Rehearse shelter pitching, stove operation outdoors, water collection/treatment, filter freeze protection and packing in gloves.
• Send a real nonemergency satellite test message, test offline maps and practice bleeding-control skills with appropriate training equipment. Do not activate a live SOS to practice.

Log what you actually did and how you recovered. A calendar date, old progress ring or packing tick cannot establish fitness or competence.

Carry the high camp. Plan the restock.

Start with a carried spike system; all four pack down together around day 3 or 4. No staffed truck camp or shared meal rotation. Truck food and cooking are a regroup option, not supplies available from the high camp.

Shelter · Jackson brings the tent

Jackson is bringing the tent. The notes do not establish its model, capacity, every person’s sleeping place or carried shares. Confirm partners, stakes/guylines, forecast suitability, bag/pad warmth and dry sleep layers. Junior’s old half-Chaos 2 weight allowance remains a baseline estimate pending the actual allocation—not a second confirmed tent. Pitch the complete system before departure. Choose a sheltered legal site away from dead overhead trees, drainage channels and exposed ridges; verify applicable setbacks and storage rules.

Food · every person handles their own meals

No shared meal planning. Junior’s stated plan is oatmeal or bone broth in the morning and Mountain House at night; each person also needs their own lunch, snacks and enough total energy. Check actual portions, calories, allergens, water needs and packed weight. Broth alone should not be treated as a complete breakfast ration.

Option, not a locked carry: pack three days of food and restock at the trucks when Kimble exits. Confirm the actual shared pack-down time before reducing food. Count departure-day meals through the next real resupply plus a deliberate delay reserve. Junior’s existing four-day weight allowance is a baseline, not a final duration. The remaining crew’s return date and total trip food are still open.

Truck regroup plan: cooler with drinks and good food; Jetboil Genesis and chili were discussed as a treat. Confirm who supplies and transports them. Keep that food and equipment at the trucks, separate from the uphill load and meat-cooling space. This is not a staffed base or a promise of automatic resupply.

Stoves and fuel · one stove per pair

Junior, Kimble and Jackson each have stoves and fuel. One stove per pair was agreed sufficient; Junior covers Austin’s pot and stove, and Austin brings a spoon. Confirm the other pairing and actual carried stove count rather than assuming all three go uphill.

Meeting fuel plan: each person carries one small canister, approximately 100g of fuel; an extra canister stays in the truck for restock. Verify compatible fuel, actual gross canister weight and fuel use for meals, cold/wind and delay. Clarify Austin’s fuel share despite the “just bring a spoon” shorthand. Snow melting, if needed, requires extra fuel planning; 100g is not a tested sufficiency claim. Cook outdoors away from shelters and combustibles, never in a tent or enclosed vestibule.

Water · supply commitment, model check still needed

Junior committed to bring SteriPEN and two Sawyer Squeezes, one for Austin; Austin has a 3L gravity bag for camp filtering. One filter per pair was the meeting plan. Confirm actual filter models, bag fittings, clean/dirty workflow and who carries each component. Junior’s prior personal ledger says Sawyer MINI; do not treat that old model/weight as verification of the meeting’s Squeeze setup.

The crew expects the stream to be running and discussed snow as backup; neither is verified water availability. Confirm a reliable source before committing, and a workable alternate if neither stream nor usable snow is present. Set carried water for route, cooking and conditions. Junior’s existing Nalgene plus 2L bladder gives 3L capacity; his ledger baseline is 2L total carried water, not a requirement or new fill decision.

Protect every wetted Sawyer from freezing; after suspected freezing, normal flow is not proof of safety—follow manufacturer replacement guidance and use a working alternative. Protect hoses and valves. SteriPEN requires suitable clarity, correct volume and a successful complete cycle for its actual model. Verify that each independently traveling group retains working treatment after regrouping.

Food storage and sanitation

Confirm the current land-manager food-storage rules and a workable method for food, trash and scented items at the actual site. A storage-kit allowance does not establish compliance or usable hanging trees. Keep attractants out of sleeping shelters; no truck is nearby to serve as overnight storage. Keep meat separate from sleeping/cooking areas. Plan permitted human-waste disposal; Junior is not carrying a trowel, so confirm a shared permitted digging method or an appropriate pack-out system. Pack out toilet paper and trash. Clean hands before food handling and after meat/waste work.

Daily camp discipline

Keep sleeping gear dry, secure shelter for wind, monitor weather and conserve power. Every hunting departure still carries emergency insulation/shelter, light, navigation, communications, first aid, food, water and treatment. Before any early exit, split shared kit explicitly so nobody is left without a complete system.

Confirm coverage, then claim the actual load.

Junior’s pack loadout and packing order → Personal choices and weight estimates are separate from the generic crew checklist below. Nothing here silently adds excluded gear to Junior’s manifest.

Allocation register · meeting commitments and remaining checks

Junior’s sling purchase

Slik Sling V4 — purchased for the hunting kit, reported September 16, 2026. That is the report date, not a confirmed purchase date. Arrival and actual weight are unconfirmed. It replaces the generic sling entry in Junior’s personal loadout; the existing 5 oz allowance remains a baseline placeholder, not a measured product weight or an additional sling. Confirm attachment compatibility and fit before use.

Generic crew packing check

Starting template only; adapt quantities to your actual kit and duration. Checkmarks save on this device only and are not a shared readiness record. New meeting-list storage is separate from prior spike/scout/truck ticks.

0 packed Reset my list

Junior’s unchanged personal selections: Blackjack 100, 10 rounds, one spare pair of socks, orange hat with no vest, no extra rain shell/footprint/trowel/paper map/compass/backup light; Nalgene plus 2L bladder, Morakniv Companion Stainless, rifle right and tripod left. The meeting’s filter, shelter and fuel allocations are flagged against the old weight ledger on his loadout page; no unweighed replacement total is asserted. Review safety tradeoffs without treating recommended extras as already packed.

Retrieval capacity sets the shot limit.

Kabell means a long foot pack-out. Do not promise a fixed number of carriers, loads, hours or cooler capacity. Work from the animal, terrain, actual willing people and remaining daylight/weather. All four plan to pack down together; available carriers change when Kimble leaves by road.

Before hunting

• Confirm willing carriers, each person’s safe load and the route; calculate trips including personal gear and rest. A heavy empty pack reduces meat capacity. No uncommitted visitors or absent hunters are counted.
• Confirm enough clean game bags, knives, gloves, clean work surface and trained help. Decide bone-in versus field deboning with an experienced person, cooling needs and applicable retention/transport rules—not a blanket requirement.
• Measure usable cooler space with ice included; do not assume two coolers hold a bull. Arrange ice, a willing driver and prompt access to refrigeration or an accepting processor. Trucks are not a staffed meat station.
• Jackson volunteered to identify a processor in Evanston. No processor is booked yet: confirm hours, capacity, acceptance, drop-off procedure and a backup. If transporting via Wyoming, verify current carcass-part/CWD transport requirements in both states before committing to the route.

Meeting discussion · not a safe-storage guarantee

The crew discussed a game-time choice based on temperature and harvest timing, including possibly hanging an early animal and continuing to hunt. Treat that as a conditional idea, not an approved overnight storage plan. A shaded hang and cold night air do not establish safe deep-meat temperature. Retrieval and reliable cooling take priority over another hunt.

After the shot

Follow current tagging and evidence-retention requirements. Make the scene and firearm safe, keep knife work controlled, and recover all required edible meat—including meat outside the four quarters. An experienced person should guide unfamiliar field dressing; the old abbreviated gutless tutorial is not a substitute for practice.

Remove heat promptly, keep meat clean and allow airflow; use breathable game bags and shade while moving toward reliable cooling. Do not pile warm meat or seal it warm in plastic. Cold night air or a shaded hang does not guarantee the deep tissue is cold. Monitor actual conditions and meat temperature; aim for prompt refrigeration at 40°F / 4°C or below. Keep meat out of dirty meltwater and separate from fuel. There is no safe blanket overnight or 24-hour waiting allowance.

A harvest near Kimble’s exit

Stop additional hunting and reassess. Protect the agreed exit deadline; do not depend on Kimble making extra trips. The plan is a shared pack-down, not a separate escort. If a harvest threatens that plan, explicitly agree a safe alternative with willing people, emergency coverage and onward transport; verify enough capacity remains to finish recovery. If that chain cannot work, narrow the hunt before a shot is taken. Do not take another animal without demonstrated capacity to retrieve and cool all meat.

Plan for separation, cold and a delayed exit.

Communications and overdue response

Confirm emergency satellite capability for every independently traveling group, including any hunting pairs and the remaining crew after the shared pack-down. The plan is for all four to descend together, not a separate Kimble exit party. An inReach and a PLB have different capabilities: a PLB is distress-only, not a two-way check-in device. Send a real nonemergency test message and learn the SOS procedure in demo/training mode—never trigger a live rescue as practice.

Radios are a convenience, not guaranteed coverage through ridges or timber. Verify the exact model’s certification and each operator’s authorization for the chosen service/channel. Low power does not make an amateur radio compliant with another service; do not rely on a blanket emergency-frequency exemption.

Privately leave a trip plan with a willing home contact: actual routes/pins, party changes, vehicles, satellite contact, check-in times, exact exit/return deadlines and whom to call. Agree check-ins between field groups and home plus explicit overdue thresholds before departure. If contact is missed, try the agreed channels promptly and assess the last location, conditions and vulnerability; escalate sooner when danger is plausible. No automatic overnight waiting period and no imaginary camp crew monitoring us. Use SOS or 911 for an emergency when available; rescue timing and helicopter access are not guaranteed.

Kimble exit and every daily turnaround

Set a conservative turnaround from actual terrain, fitness, daylight and forecast. Agree the shared pack-down time, Kimble’s onward road transport and vehicle/gear reallocations before the pack-in. Recheck remaining party experience and emergency coverage. Anyone may call a safety stop; no unconfirmed named safety officer is assigned.

Firearms and knives

• Treat every firearm as loaded; control muzzle direction and keep fingers off triggers until ready to fire.
• Positively identify the animal, surroundings, backstop and partners. Never shoot a skylined animal or toward another group.
• Keep the chamber empty while hiking; safely unload before vehicles or obstacles. Confirm current legal transport rules separately.
• Use controlled knife cuts away from yourself and others. Carry accessible bleeding-control supplies and learn their use; equipment alone is not training.

Cold, storms and altitude

Keep dry insulation, emergency shelter, headlamp, first aid, navigation, communications, food, water and treatment with you even when leaving sleep gear at spike. Junior’s M7 is the selected weather layer; no additional rain shell is silently added. His phone/watch lights and electronic navigation choices are not independent hands-free lighting or non-electronic navigation backups; test power and failure plans before departure.

Watch for shivering, clumsiness, confusion and worsening coordination. Get out of wind/wet, insulate and seek help early when someone cannot warm up or function normally. Thunder, severe wind, accumulating snow or deteriorating access may require retreat, not just a lower hunting location. Do not wait until escape is cut off.

A late-August scout does not establish October acclimatization. Ascend conservatively and watch for headache with nausea, dizziness or unusual fatigue. Do not ascend further with altitude illness; descend if symptoms worsen or fail to improve. Confusion, loss of coordination or breathlessness at rest require urgent descent and emergency help. Drink to needs; forced overhydration does not prevent altitude illness.

Carbon monoxide: no stove, heater or combustion device in a tent or enclosed vestibule. Cook outdoors well away from shelter openings. An alarm does not make enclosed cooking safe.

This page is not a permit or current legal clearance.

The plan is a Kabell Lake rifle elk hunt beginning October 3. The previously recorded general-season window was October 3–9, 2026; verify it against each person’s actual permit and the current Utah rules. This is not the whole crew’s return schedule and does not establish that every participant is licensed or cleared to hunt.

• Utah DWR: verify permit type, dates, legal animal, weapon/ammunition rules, shooting hours, orange requirements, tagging/e-tagging, evidence retention, edible-meat requirements and harvest reporting. Do not rely on the retired site’s deadlines, fees or “automatically filed” claim.
• Boundaries: check exact Kabell route/hunt pins against official unit, state and land-ownership maps. North Slope unit names and a schematic drainage line do not prove permit validity. Utah authorization does not grant hunting rights in Wyoming.
• Land manager: confirm current road/parking/gate status, closures, wilderness travel restrictions, campsite setbacks, group/stay limits, waste disposal, food storage and stove/fire restrictions for the actual site. Roadside camping rules are not a spike-camping authorization.
• Transport: confirm current firearm transit and carcass-part/CWD rules in Utah and Wyoming for the actual drive and processor destination.

Official starting points

• Utah DWR · big game rules and guidebooks
• Utah DWR · Hunt Boundary maps
• Ashley National Forest · alerts, maps and district contacts
• Wyoming Game and Fish · transport and CWD guidance
• Utah Fire Info · current restrictions

Record the date and source when these checks are actually completed. No current closure, legal clearance or completed regulatory review is asserted here.