I drew an X7B tag this year, too. I used to hunt here years ago when you could with an archery only #1 tag, and my, how things have changed. I'd intended to get up for scouting before the season, but never did. Sorry now. I spent Friday looking, and not only did I see very few deer, but my foot forays into some of my old haunts revealed almost no sign on the west slopes of the Verdi range. Friday morning I was on Verdi Peak glassing the burns to the north... (foggy that morning) and nada. I drove over to Dog Valley, and checked for trails and fresh scars-- NADA. Saw four deer going to water across Henness Pass road, all flat-heads. Went up Brushy Mountain, triple nada. Went up the burn along the power lines and glassed some more. Quad nada.
Saturday morning found me still hunting up along the burn and the edge of timber, very little sign. No deer. No beds, few droppings were old, and no trails.
Four guys in a jeep were coming down from Verdi, and they had seen nothing. Three guys who came in on my campsite on Friday night said they saw a couple does/fawns.
I'd stay away from Verdi. I went to the west side and saw 10 does/fawns crossing from Sardine Valley (that's X7A) towards the lake (X7B) but no horns. Still, alot better than the east side. I'm going back up on Wednesday through Friday, and plan to work the west side. I'll let you know what I find out. I've seen better activity in both D3 and D4 zones this year, and probably should just go back to those areas, but the X tag only has a 2 week season, so I'll try to fill it.
Good luck, and let me know how the boy does-- check back for my results on Friday, I'll try to post before too late, if I can.
Bud Neville