Three of us are thinking about floating the upper Noatak end of August for caribou and fishing. Anyone have experience or knowledge to help out? I did float the lower Noatak out of Kotzebue years ago and two of us shot 2 moose and 2 caribou.

I drew this hunt for sheep. Did you see any on your float or where you further down?

The Noatak is a pretty good size river and can fluxuate considerably with rain fall. I have floated the Kelly, Seagull creek / Niminuktuk (spelling) which are tributaries floating south into the Noatak. These are pretty scenic routes but if the water is low, there can be a lot of portage in the shallows.
Great trips up there in early September. The only issue in that country is the tussocks, OMG!! the tussocks. This is about 125 miles NE of Kotzebue. Do not know if that is as far as you were thinking about going.

Two of us floated Seagull Creek to Nimi and down the Noatak and both shot a moose and caribou. I was Thinking of coming out of the Gates of the Arctic Refuge from Bettles and pickup at Cutler Lake. Caribou seem to be there late August.

I've been above the Cutler river twice. The fishing was poor, at best. Never caught a thing in the river, some lakes were ok. Hunting is hit or miss as the caribou migrate through the area. Plenty of brown bears in the area, but the moose are better further down river. Arranging transport in this area is increasingly difficult.
Bill

Hearing about the upper Noatak. I'm thinking about flying out of Kotzebue in Sept. and do caribou and fish the Wiluk River for those big char instead of floating the Noatak. Might have to do two different drops.