Excellent information. I've got a picture on my computer background now, where I shot my elk, that is just such a "bench", though I didn't recognize it as such until we had this discussion on terminology. I can see how an elk wanting to get from one point to another would prefer to walk across this bench rather than up, over, and across. It kind of makes a shortcut in the case that I have on my screen in front of me. Without the bench, the hillside would be much steeper. It would be my preferred route between the two points at any rate, though I am not an elk. I guess one part of analyzing the terrain to selectively choose places to scout/hunt -- rather than randomly covering ground -- is to try to think like an elk.