That sounds like a fairly typical cold snap for mid-November in Northern MN. We usually get one like that, sometimes worse, during firearms season. I've had a couple mornings over the years when the mercury read 15-20 below and just chucked some wood in the stove and crawled back under the covers.
Deer have a lot in common with us. We're both warm blooded mammals, driven by the same primal urges. Ever notice how by mid-winter, a cold snap that would be teeth chattering in November ain't so bad now? Deer are the same.
The first bitter cold of the season, say single digits or colder in my part of the world will lock them down. They're still fat and happy from the summer greenery and fall mast, and other than the rut, have little inclination to wander about. They'll flop down in tight cover under a balsam, white pine or cedar, and be content to browse a 50 yard radius. Even the local corn field won't tempt them much unless snow is coming, that seems to trip a different primal urge and get them feeding. By muzzleloader season in late November, that same single digit cold snap won't phase them much. They'll be much more food oriented, and happy to come out in the late afternoon before the mercury drops. Even towards the end of the first cold snap, they will show signs of acclimating and become more active in the cold. By mid-winter, zero is happy weather. It takes -20 to lock them down in January here. After prolonged cold, they will become very food oriented and most active at the warmest feeling (not necessarily warmest mercury) locations and parts of the day, favoring sheltered and sunny areas with food resources. The higher calorie food, the better.