Finally remembered to come back and listen to this podcast, thanks again for the rec
@woodsdog2
I found a lot of what was said about hunting in the mountains to be true, i.e. deer moving in the same direction as thermals immediately following thermal switch (moving uphill just after sun warms things up and downhill just after things cool down) . Same can be said when the wind switches direction. I suspect they're moving into a bedding or feeding area where the wind is once again to their advantage. Things get messy when wind and thermals are blowing in different directions (which somehow always seems to happen!!)
In my experience, lines of travel along the same elevation are more worn down than those running up and down in elevation...Just a hypothesis, but I think it's because they are spending the bulk of the day running perpendicular to thermal movement, only moving parallel to thermals just following thermal switches. That said, I found a single up/down trail right at the end of last season that was really worn down. It immediately stood out to me because I never see well worn up/down trails. I'm going to put this to the test this fall, but I'm think that it would be easier to connect with a deer in the mountains moving up/down (just before or after thermal switch) than parallel because it would be super difficult to determine what elevation band they are going to decide to walk on that day. In other words, I'm hoping they use the same up/down freeway to get off at different exits...we shall see! Man, come on October!