If you spook a mule deer during a morning hunt and he runs someplace you can't follow because of wind or cliffs or whatever, leave and come back before dark. Oh, they get up to stretch and browse, but they'll normally lie back down within a few yards. Just be there when they start their evening rounds. When the shadow touched the antlers the buck stood and started picking his way out of the junipers, as calm as a banker sorting his mail. But in timber, whether Appalachian oaks or Rocky Mountain spruce, snow is what makes following spooked bucks really possible.
Deer are very much aware of the signs they leave in the snow.
After being jumped they don't just run into the nearest wall of cover and look back. Instead they run a little farther, then circle in a hook before stopping to watch their backtrail. The snow makes you more visible between the dark trees, and at the faintest hint of movement they leave. Because deer are lower to the ground than most hunters, especially when bedded, they often see your legs long before you can see them stand. Snow-tracking spooked deer involves a lot of circling and squatting.