I don't want to down you out or anything but that buck could have been there tending some does for a few days. It is possible that he could live in the area too. If you can't hunt the area immediately (filled tag?), you'll want to put out a camera and/or take up shed hunting very seriously.

The one thing that I'm still trying to figure out is why sometimes I'll see a big buck several times during the season then have him disappear off of the face of the earth. I know that they're not all being shot by hunters but 50% of the big (5 1/2 +) bucks I see during a season will not be sighted the following year. I'm also waiting for one of these bucks to reappear after an absence like this. They can be a mystery.

One theory I have is that the season I saw them, they may have left their home area for various reasons such as no does were ready or they were whupped by a bigger foe. The following year things may have changed for their liking and they remained!!??