Mox,
Bad news,
The land owner is a good friend of mine, all be it a generation or two older. A few decades ago she gave permission for a relative to hunt SHOTGUN on her land, something the relative has done some years and not others. The relative got to hear that I was on the land and may or may not have heard about this big boy. Anyway whatever those details are he felt that the permission given way back when added up to exclusive access to the land, irrespective of bow / shotgun or muzzleloader season. The situation had all the potential to be a nasty argument in the family, so I simply bowed out, now land owner and relative are at peace, I think.
I was suprised at how boney the does with him were, I had 4 or 5 of them around my stand while I was waiting for this boss to arrive, and the ribs and pelvis were the most prominent feature. I only have a few years hunting experience but I've never seen skinny-er deer.
I've been out twice elsewhere, took my son with me for the first time and had a blast. We arrowed (I shot) a button buck which gave us a few pounds of meat. We also saw quite a squabble between two grey herons first in the air above our hide then in the pasture in front of us. They have a distinctive croak. I called them on my buck caller and they stopped gesturing at each other and took a few steps toward us. My 7 yr old lad was not able to get them on camera. Still a good learning experience for both of us.