Bush stalking. Where did the sign go?

Four weeks ago I was doing some bush stalking in a spot where I had been successful during the roar. There was plenty of fresh sign around, in terms of droppings and the odd hoof print that looked reasonably fresh. Then while listening to some hooves on the other side of the bushes, the wind swung on me and I saw a deer make a break for it down a gut out and out of sight.

So this morning I headed back. Thinking if there was sign four weeks ago, they might still be around. But the sign had dried up. No fresh droppings. No fresh tracks. No deer seen or heard.

I was up near the ridge, sidling in the flat area where I had seen fresh sign previously.
Are the deer moving up the valley at this time of year with spring growth? Or is the fresh spring growth over and they are lower towards the river bed feeding in the bush?

Any advice appreciated

Head towards the fresh growth on the river banks.

In my experience and especially this year with having snow as recently as 2 nights ago the tops won't have much growth until the new year.

Hope this helps

Should have mentioned this is in Wairarapa. Not much snow here, but can still get cold. Will check out the river banks on next trip. Cheers

Where I hunt the deer are feeding and bedding in the mid-level bush in mid-October. From mid-November they have moved out onto the grassy slip faces and are bedding during the day in the adjacent bush until fawns are dropped. This may not be the pattern at your location, but it does point to the need to know the habits of deer specific to your area based on what feed, shelter, sun/shade, and water later in summer etc is on offer. Record your observation and location from a month ago, and now (mid-November) you will have to return to finding the deer again from a renewed search for fresh sign. Well worth doing though as such knowledge can then be carried forward to future years. There seems to be less variation in where the deer are year—to—year than we would like to imagine, though of course it will always be convenient for me to attribute lack of success to my standard excuses like "an early spring" or "late roar".