Hi y'all,

Going to hunt in some hilly country this Saturday (near the VA-WV state line), and I'm faced with a choice for where to set up at first light before still hunting the rest of the day (should the need arise).

There's a long ridge that runs the boundary between this property and public land; the top of the ridge (just under 3000 ft) is about 800 ft higher the lowest point in the property (~2200 ft). For a stretch of at least 325 yards, everything between the ridgetop and the valley is hunt-able for me and the 3 other people I'll be hunting with.
Perpendicular to the big ridge are several "hollers," which means nearly twice as many potential deer highways.

From years past, I know one in particular has massive traffic on it as the deer move uphill to bed during the day. Till now the strategy has always been to begin somewhere closer to the bottom of it; it was just easier in the dark, and we thought the deer's evening beds may be closer to the clear-cuts in the valley. But I've come to realize traffic tends to be limited to does and fawns near the foot of this ridge, right after the start of shooting light.
I'm therefore thinking that perhaps this year, I should be sitting at the foot of a tree at least 100 yards up (or more) on that perpendicular ridge. The wind almost always blows uphill, but also sideways toward the property line, away from the "highway" (forecast says it'll do the same). However, I'm worried that the thermals that early in the morning will not be rising yet, but going downhill, and could ruin our chances of seeing a buck moving up this "highway" from directly below us.

Is there a certain threshold of wind that could overpower the early morning downhill thermals? Or do the thermals win, most every time, meaning it's best to await first light near the bottom, no matter what?