You're from Wyoming but wanting to hunt California? That seems a bit backwards, lol. Anyway, I have been putting in for X9A for 4 years now and haven't been drawn. I have some friends that know it well, and they say to either go way high, wait for a good storm to push them down, or hunt the eastern sage flats. If you go to Jesse's Hunting forum you might get some good info. There are a lot of X9A hunters on that site... Check out Reagan's Sporting Goods on Facebook for motivation, they post bucks coming out of there every year.