actually I am planning or maybe planning a trip to that very area LOL! First off you need to find a raft. Raft size will depend on how many people and how many bou you intend on shooting. I personally own a 16ft cataraft. I need to get the trampoline floor for it instead of this plastic mesh crap. I have had 5 guys and all of our gear on there, Ya all of it LOL! That was pushing my luck but it worked fine. 2nd just because a river was good one year doesnt mean it will be equally good the next. My wife and I floated a river on the north side of the brooks and had a riot! Floated it again this year and didnt hardly see any caribou. The ones we did see were almost all little bulls cows and calves. As for the western arctic I plan on flying to Kotzebue and flying out from there. That or get picked up on the haul road from a Bettles air service and get flown over. Have to figure out costs. How did you friends go about it? and what where there costs to get to Kotz from Anch if they went that route? The western arctic is financially one of the more expensive herds to hunt due to its location!!! Also dont forget the shot at a moose depending on what river you end up hunting, there is a definate possiblity for doing a combo!