Hey Destiny,
I dunno if I'm a "seasoned" bow hunter, but I did kill a black tail on my property last year with a recurve, so I'll take a stab at it.
My season is a little earlier here, and it doesn't get as cold, but up at 4,000 feet during elk season, we had temps in the 30's with a very damp chill and plenty of wind. I froze my hands pretty good in Alaska, so it doesn't take much for main to become really painful and numb. I put a pretty heavy glove on my left hand (that holds the bow) and learned that I had to practice with it, as my long bow has a tendency to torque in my hand at the shot, and the glove exacerbated that. The more slabsided handle of a recurve makes that less of an issue.
For my right hand (that draws the string) I took a glove and cut all but the pinky and thumb fingers off it. It looks like this:
http://www.3riversarchery.com/down-under-wool-glove.html
Only it didn't cost me $25. You might get away with wearing a thin, polypropylene glove liner on all your fingers, and then buying a larger finger guard that will go over the liner, but I'd hate to make a change like that in the middle of the season. I plant to experiment with such a thing for next year.
When I would hide behind trees and such for elk this year, I'd pull the bow in close to my chest, then put my right hand in an armpit. That would keep it a little warmer, and wouldn't be as much of an exaggerated movement as pulling it out of my pocket.
Not sure how to help you with your creek crossing, as I don't really know the lay of your land. Can you find a few strategic spots where it's easy to cross, or is it wide all the way around. You can sometimes see where the deer jumped, find an easier place for yourself that might be hundreds of yards away, then go up the other side of the creek and pick up the trail again.
You may find it easier to drag a deer if you take a small tarp in your pack. You put the deer on the tarp and drag that. It helps to take a couple hanks of rope to pass through the eyelets on the tarp. You tie the ropes to a stick and pull on the stick.
I've gotten good advice from the folks on the Traditional Bowhunter Magazine forum at www.tradbow.com. That crew may have some better ideas for you.
Good luck! Killing deer is a perfectly reasonable goal, particularly if you know your own land the way you do.
Regards,
David