Been hunting diverse mountainsides for years. Some benches are wide and steadily stair-stepping, and some narrow and steep. Some chalk full of boulders and rocks and some beautifully open.

I've never had much luck blindly hunting open (too good to be true) timber on benches in the mountain unless I know there is a group regularly using that area.

If there are any draws or washes on your piece of property...try to overlook that draw in the mornings. Deer sometimes like to use those draws to make their way up the mountain, walking the edges or sometimes in for a while before breaking off.

In the afternoons in October and November, I've had luck with deer moving straight down the mountain, but their patterns always change on me in December once I've busted them out of those trails they've been comfortable with all summer and autumn.

I've witnessed deer moving around, straight down, angling down, etc....in the afternoons. I planning my set on deer moving around personally. Think about it, if you have wind blowing up the mountain cutting straight across those benches, deer are gonna angle down the mountain or cut across them so they can smell everything below them (especially bucks nosing for does below them)...just an example.

Also, I like getting in the cedars and boulders. Bucks like walking in those nooks and crannies where they can dip straight off something steep and thick if they have to run. Even if you can't use a treestand, get in the thick stuff and try to get above a bench you think they're using with the wind blowing up the mountain. If your wind is blowing down the mountain at all in the afternoons, my hope would be grim for that hunt.

But you always gotta keep in mind...a deer is a deer. Their movement can't be predicted 100%. So just give yourself the best chance. The more you hunt your mountainside, the more you will become a pro at it than us. It just takes observation over a couple years to see what they are traditionally doing in certain spots.

Try the draw idea in the morning just to see if you can catch some moving up those washes from the bottoms in the AM.