Some general tips:
- You could be stranded for days due to weather/fog. That country is notorious for it. Once the pilots get backed up, it takes a while to catch up.
- The bears tend to be thicker on the western end of the brooks, especially near the rivers. A number of those rivers have salmon runs, which are mostly over by September, but they are still looking for food. I don't think you can hunt the river corridors as a NR, but not sure. Either way, there is probably more bears per square mile in the Noatak than most places in Alaska.
- Temps will probably be near freezing in the mornings, bugs should be gone by then (pray they are, haha)
- Your cell phone may not work in Kotz, its been a few years since I was there, but its Verison/GCI cell network I believe, ATT didn't work last time I was there. Make sure you have arrangements to pickup and hotel transportation lined up if needed.
- Spot communicators are iffy up there, sat phones and I presume InReach should work fine.
As far as caribou hunting... They're not hard to hunt, are not terribly spooky, but if on the move, its hard to catch up to them. Contrary to what many say, they are not constantly on the move... They stop and feed, bed etc. They tend to follow trails vs going where ever.
If you want a 'nice' bull, look at lots and lots of pictures. Caribou are one of the hardest animals to judge unless you've looked over a pile of them. The "big" one may be a medium sized bull, in a herd of dinks. Ground shrink is common.
The bulls in the NW herd have a lot of reindeer blood in them, and tend to be smaller bodied, and thinner horned, but still some big bulls to be had.
Research tussocks... learn what they look like from a distance and avoid them at all costs. haha
Good luck!
