RE: Patience and brute determination paid off.
Honestly, I'd jump for joy if I only had to wait three days like that. Then if "Mister Big" as you put it walked out, I'd probably pee my pants in disbelief.
In my area, you can hunt for several days in a row and not see a single deer. One of the reasons why just about ANY deer is fair game around here. Very very hard to allow anything to walk. You might not get another chance the entire season. Same thing holds true for turkeys.
Last year I saw ONLY ONE large buck the entire season.
-Mike