N. CA Archery question

Hi I am hoping for some opinions, my son is currently going to school in Oregon, we normally archery hunt the eastern sierras mainly A-20. But he will be short on time as he will be in school, so we are going to go to one of the N CA units for archery this year so he can drive down and get in more hunting time. We are looking at x1, x3 a or b,(the archery hunts in these units) we have 3.5 points between us (Mostly due to his being in the Marines the past 4 years). Anyone that has any experience or advice to offer it would be appreciated, thanks!

LAST EDITED ON May-21-17 AT 01:07AM (MST)[p]Some of the X zones are becoming a little easier to draw now that hunters are finding they cannot put in for an X zone and then still count on C zone as a back-up. Putting in for C as your second choice is rapidly becoming a sure way to miss out on hunting season.

So, hunt the zone that you can scout. There are plenty of good places to hunt X1 very near the border, and X3B has good wilderness opportunities if you have the time to scout and hunt it. I cannot recommend one over the other, because the opportunity in each is pretty similar.

That said, why don't you buy an archery tag to hunt eastern Oregon? You would have miles of country, closer proximity, and not need to burn your points in CA.

Thanks for the input! He just started school in Jan, and is planning on staying, so this may be his last year as a res. so we figured to try and use the points this year. We are leaning towards x3a, as a friend has hunted there in riffle a couple of time, and he will be hunting with us this year, I have hunted antelope in likely tables, so at least have been in the zone! Just want to stay open to any suggestions.