Zone X-9b located in portions of Inyo County.

This area is a short drive from Los Angeles, making it an ideal zone for southern California hunters seeking a public land hunting environment. This is one of the smaller zones in the state.As with most of California, there will be plenty of hunters in the field. Stay safe and wear your blaze orange clothing. This is an extreme high use area.

The terrain in this zone has a huge variation from the lowlands up to the peaks of the Sierra Nevadas.

Zone X-9b is an ecologically diverse zone comprised of numerous plant communities ranging from desert scrub at the lowest elevations (3,700 feet) near Lone Pine to alpine at the highest elevations (10,000- 14,000 feet) along the Sierra Nevada Crest. The highest peak in the continental United States, Mt Whitney (14,496 feet), can be found in this zone. Deer habitat in this area is characterized by open sagebrush scrub and montane chaparral brush fields interspersed with open meadows and groves of aspen and pine forest. Many steep drainages flow east from the Sierra Nevada Crest and these typically support perennial water and lush riparian vegetation.

The deer in Zone X-9b primarily inhabit elevations between 4,500 and 9,000 feet. These elevations support Great Basin type vegetation. The winter range consists of sagebrush scrub and pinyon woodland plant communities. Sagebrush scrub occurs at the lower elevations from approximately 4,500 to 6,500 feet. Common species associated with this plant community include big sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush, Mormon tea, rabbitbrush, buckwheat, Indigo bush, black brush, and native bunchgrasses. The pinyon woodland plant community occurs from approximately 6,500 to 9,500 feet. Pinyon pine is the dominant tree and big sagebrush is the dominant shrub in this area. Other common species include antelope bitterbrush, Mormon tea, rabbitbrush, and mountain mahogany. Common herbaceous species are June grass, Indian ricegrass, and squirreltail grass. The upper elevation is dominated by Jeffrey pine forest.

Subalpine forest occurs from 9,500 feet to 11,500 feet in elevation. The Jeffrey pine, whitebark pine, foxtail pine, and limber pine are the dominant tree species in this plant community up to the treeline. Common shrubs include sagebrush, mountain mahogany, mountain whitethorn, chinquapin, fernbush, and creambush. The alpine tundra plant community occurs from 11,500 to 14,496 feet (Mount Whitney peak). Vegetation is extremely sparse at these elevations and mainly consists of low growing perennial shrubs and annuals.

Riparian vegetation occurs within all of these plant communities, except the alpine tundra. Riparian areas can be important in providing escape cover and fawning habitat. At lower elevations, cottonwood, black oak, interior live oak, and willow are the dominant species. At the upper elevations, in the pinyon woodland area, birch, wild rose, and willow species dominate the riparian habitat. Groves of quaking aspen can be found in drainages within the subalpine forest.

Deer winter ranges exists on alluvial fans at elevations of 4,500 to 6,000 feet. Alluvial fans occur when intermittent streams, resulting mostly from bursts of infrequent rain, rush down steep canyons scouring boulders, soil, and other debris. The flood of water carries the whole mass with it and deposits it on the valley floor at the canyon's mouth. In years of little snow, however, many deer in the Goodale herd spend much of the winter at elevations as high as 8,000 to 9,000 feet. The portion of the winter range with the greatest concentration of deer is that area from Big Pine Creek to Oak Creek.

Intermediate ranges or holding areas are those sites where migrating deer pause for a time when traveling from one seasonal range to another. Use of holding areas by the Goodale deer herd varies greatly from year to year depending on the amount of snow. Some deer will remain on these areas until forced down by deep snow, while others travel to lower elevation winter ranges before any substantial snowfall has occurred. Known intermediate ranges are Stecker Flat, Shinglemill Bench, and the area above Scotty Spring. In years of little snow, significant numbers of deer remain on these areas through January. This may be important in reducing use of browse plants on key winter ranges at lower elevations. The major mountain passes are used extensively by deer as migration routes. Their probable order of use by numbers of deer is Taboose, Sawmill, Bishop, and Kearsarge. Some use has been noted over Shepherd and Vacation passes.

The majority of Zone X-9b is public land however private lands are found at lower elevations and near towns. Public lands are administered by the Inyo National Forest or the Bureau of Land Management.

U.S. Highway 395 is the primary route of access through Zone X-9b. This major north-south highway parallels the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada between the City of Bishop to the north and the town of Lone Pine to the south. Highway 168 is the only other major highway within the zone going west out of Bishop. Other improved roads include Whitney Portal Road and Horseshoe Meadows Road out of Lone Pine and Glacier Lodge Road out of Big Pine. These highways and roads provide access to dozens of improved and unimproved dirt roads that penetrate the Zone’s interior. Access at higher elevations is generally limited to hiking trails.

The topography within Zone X-9b ranges from flat in the lower elevation valleys to very steep and rocky in the higher mountains of the Sierra Nevada. Most services are located within the various towns scattered along the base of the Sierra Nevada escarpment, including Bishop, Big Pine, Independence, and Lone Pine. Hunters are advised to have full gasoline tanks when entering the field and to carry snow chains, shovel, serviceable spare tire, and extra food and water.

Inyo County has a wide variety of camping opportunities on USFS, BLM, and county lands. Overnight camping is not allowed on Los Angeles Department of Water and Power lands.

For areas where dispersed camping is allowed, you need to obtain a California Campfire Permit for the use of any open flame (including gas stoves, lanterns, wood fires, charcoal fires, or smoking). These permits can be obtained at no cost from any Inyo National Forest Ranger Station and BLM office. Open flame of any kind may be restricted during times of high fire danger; check with the local Forest Service office for current restrictions.