Anyone have a place for map terminology as it applies to hunting. We recently added a couple of guys to our group and I did not realize the terms I have always used are not univerally agreed upon. It turns out we do not agree on the definition of north slope vs north face, saddles and finger ridges, stuff like that.
Well, terms like finger ridges and saddles are clear to the speaker who is describing ground he knows, but have some built in nebulosity when his hearer tries to decide which low place on the ridge is the (right) saddle, etc. So there is always some fitting of terminology to the specific terrain, usually after we get lost from each other, show up in the wrong place, etc.
North face and north slope have a common, consistent definition among the relatively small circle of family and close friends that I hunt with. I think they are pretty common terms with fixed meanings in climbing circles also. Hadn't thought about it but you could define them opposite and still have some logic to it.
The main thing is if everyone in your party agrees. If you have a hold out who insists on some other definition, that's a warning light on the dash about hunting with the guy IMO, if not a red one. That is, agree on your working definitions, and then agree as much as possible which spot on the map or horizon is the saddle etc. you all mean.
A few years ago I went looking for a fabled mule deer saddle an old timer described, though he had not been to it in 45 years. I climbed past it without recognizing the slight swale in a small spur or finger ridge, but in thinking back over all I'd seen that day, I realized that dip was what he'd meant. Killed a 4x5 muley there the next morning. Good directions.