Yeah, these northern X zones are not that easy to draw and even when a guy gets enough points to draw, the hunt is not likely to be a easy one. Last year i drew X3-a and spent over a week scouting, gathered up several places of private property to hunt, hunted it every day of the season, and still didn't see a shooter buck. I know of 3 honest 30"+ bucks that were taken and a good handful of other dandy buck that were shot by others but the bigger bucks eluded me.
5a can be a ##### to hunt as well. I've hunted it 3 times in the last 20 some years and the best buck i seen during the season was a plain Jane 24" 4X4 that i passed up looking for a dandy. I've seen them scouting, i've seen huge bucks there after the season, i love hunting that kind of country but just because it takes a lot of points to draw, don't mean the bigger bucks are going to make themselves available.
As 6x7 said, if you can possibly make several trips to scout out an area, do so. If you can obtain permission to hunt on private that hold deer, do that too. Make sure that when you finally do have the tag and ready to hunt, that you have a rabbits foot in your pocket because several of the bigger bucks i spoke of being shot by others, were shot by guys who didn't have a clue and pure lucked into their trophy.
Joey
"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"