Unless in writing LO is precluded from hunting then must be assumed he will hunt and shoot something if likes/wants to. He/she is the owner of property. Suck, maybe/maybe not, depends on perspective.

Had a South Texas place for almost 40 years and it was an understanding that landowner and/or kids/family may and could hunt, not that they would or did much but they were always more than welcome to do so when/if desired. Damn quick way to get booted off is to bitch and moan about a LO taking a deer or two off their property. Other party hunting separate pasture came up on LO's 80yo, half blind uncle hunting with a downed 8" spike and threw an unnecessary ruckus. That LO jetted out and told them to get the F off that weekend, trailers, offshore sleeping cabins and all, just because the guys whom also leased on the Callaghan didn't like 80 yo tio popping a 3yo spike for csrne and tapas. Dumb, dumb move on their part. Later that pasture was offered to us to lease as we understood the hunting relationship. Those guys knew better as they were 5-10 year lessors

LO was actually up in blind assisting tio with the hunt so he didn't need to jet out. Told them on the spot to take their sh#$ and move on.

To the OP - I know you got more answers than you needed but you touched on a topic that comes up on this forum. Your situation is unique in that you technically are not leasing the property but have permission to hunt it. Tough spot to be in but end of the day the LO rules

This.
I don’t charge to hunt any of my properties, friends and family hunt for free, but I still respect them, I let one of my employees hunt my home place, before I check cattle or need to do anything I make sure he’s not hunting, and I won’t hunt it, because I told him he could, he’s been paying for the feed so it’s only right.
I do have a few simple rules, unload before you leave the stand, no trash and make sure it’s a legal deer.

Too much drama and BS dealing with leasing, landowners, and lessees is why I left the state. I don't want to have to worry about having a place to hunt or not each fall. Once I removed the illusion of any control, I started enjoying hunting more. Private land is a wonderful thing and but it can cut both ways. Even the "landowner" can find out they don't really own the land if finances go south, cannot easily escape neighbor issues, etc. Poor management by landowners can also be a hole that is impossible to undo...

It sounds like you had a handshake agreement that the landowner fudged on. If you think the relationship is worth maintaining then I would swallow your pride on this one and see if you cannot get a more formal agreement arranged for next season. If not then move on. Making a stink is not going to bring the deer back.

Bottom line is whether the “agreement” gave you exclusive hunting rights.

A little different but somewhat same scenario, I have permission on a place in Oklahoma in Canadian River country, last year was really great. This year without letting us know, LO decided to start running a bunch of cattle on the small property which destroyed the deer hunting. I got my stuff off the property and have been hunting public and paying for doe hunts. In the end it is their land and although it sucks for the hunter, they can do what they want with it... Seems only way to be 100% certain and have complete control is to own the piece land you are hunting...

I would be pissed if the LO or LO family was hunting without notifying us. I don’t care if he owns the property or not.

This would be no different than if I leased a house with a pool to a family and randomly brought my family over to swim in the pool.

LO understands you have no recourse and probably doesn’t care if you leave.

The work you perform is either worth the possibility of LO shooting your target buck each year or it’s not.

Only you can decide that.

Sympathetic to your plight though, sounds like you were under the impression that he wouldn’t hunt the low fenced areas.

Many people believe that, in general, people are good.

They are wrong, it’s the opposite.

That’s the way I look at it. Unless otherwise agreed upon.

I think pack sack and find another lease if your that upset.

After several years of seeing these stories pop up on the forum a common thing is usually there is one side, the other side, and the real story somewhere in the middle. Not saying this one is like that but we don't know the other side so know your responses including mine are full of assumptions that likely don't even apply to your situation.
What we do know is you said the landowner was maintaining a feeder with game camera outside the fence 200 yards away. All this was obviously in place before getting pictures of and shooting the buck. How long has the landowner had the feeder outside the fence and does he have other feeders? Either the deal was not an exclusive one to begin with or there was some kind of known breakdown in communication on what the permission entailed long before the buck was shot. IMHO there is no way either party thought this was an exclusive deal when the landowner shot a buck under a feeder he himself put up and maintained after viewing pictures of it on his own game camera. What kind of work was done for the landowner and how many acres are we talking? Leases are not cheap and can be extremely costly when your talking about a sole entity paying for the lease rather than several guns splitting the cost for a spot on a lease. I know time is valuable, but are we talking you built the landowner a new house valuable or you mowed his lawn valuable?

I like your holistic way of thinking Sniper, we don't know the ends/outs of this whole scenario. Possibly LO indicated early on that he'd be eligible to shoot any buck of his choosing, maybe arrangement called for lessee to shoot only spikes, culls and pigs, not trophy bucks. Not saying that happened but also not certain it didn't happen.

The aggreement was that I do the work and I had free run and could shoot anything I wanted. He told me that he was never going to hunt the deer outside of his high fence "Those were our deer to hunt". That was before he saw a trophy buck come up. It was all ok when i was seeing small barely legal bucks. I feed protein and corn year around. There was no misunderstanding. It has been clear for almost 5 years no issues. This year after he retired it all changed. I see him on my game cameras in front of our feeder at hunting times. We were friends first. The communication has always been there. He changed the rules 3 weeks ago without telling me.

Your are correct.

Situation clarified, U were wronged.....

Agree 100%. I feel lucky, My LO has no interest in hunting.

When did he put the feeder up on your side of the fence? IMO, your agreement changed on that day. Did you not ask him what is up the day you saw it? And "our deer"? Are there others hunting on your permission? Do they also do work every year and what work? Were the others hunting part of the original permission? There is no way it was only "your deer to hunt" when he has a feeder and game camera there. Did you really think he was not hunting that feeder? There has to be more to the story related to that feeder and other hunters. And 5 years??? A lot can change in 5 years. 5 years ago did he say "they are your deer" FOREVER? Did you and or the others do work for him one time 5 years ago or does the verbal agreement call for work every year? If it was only one time, it is possible he is thinking you have overstayed your welcome on this trade and is sending you a message. The contract on my deer lease has changed several times over 20 years. I would never expect a landowner to agree to forever lease with conditions that never change. Nor for 5 years even unless we have a 5 year contract. And again what kind of work? Like many others my deer lease has doubled in cost over the last 5 years. It is likely he does not think the work equals the value of of the permission anymore. I don't see you were wronged, I see after five years y'all have a communication breakdown. If he is truly your friend as you say, go ask him where y'all stand on this deal, what is expected of you, and what is expected of him? You should consider doing this before season every year. To keep the cards on the table as they say.

He was going to post the lease online and needed pictures and also wanted to shoot pigs through the fence. I wasnt happy about it when i saw it but i cant tell guy what to do. We had already told him we were not returning. Everything was on good terms. I trusted that he said he would never hunt the deer. He made this very clear on several occasions. Hell he has 180" deer at his back door." Next thing you know I'm getting pictures of it dead. It is what it at this point. We arent returning. I dont hate him just feel very disrespected.

Old fella once told me.
You'll never loose friends quicker than over a deer or a deer lease.

I also want to say that I have appreciated this opportunity more than anything. I have wanted a place my dad and I could go. I get pretty invested in hunting a certain buck every year becuase its more of a challenge for me. I could of tagged out day 1. What fun is that. I appreciate everyones comments. I am going to move along and live and learn. The real hunt begins now, a new place. Lol. Yall have a good new year!

Eagle, do you by any chance have any pictures that you could show us of the deer in question?

SO let us get this straight, you guys (you and dad?) had already decided you would not be back next year and he told you he was putting up the camera and feeder to get pics to post the lease online?

And now you are complaining the dude shot a buck you had been following for a couple years and you are mad about that?

If you told him you were off the place mid season or even before the season started, you opened the door for the dude to change the terms you agreed upon, because you changed them....it isn't fair for you to change the terms and then expect him not to. It isn't fair to expect him to stick to the terms of a deal that essentially is no longer in effect.

The bigger question is what caused you to tell him you were getting off the place to begin with?

Sounds like there is a lot more to this story than we are getting and it doesn't start with a feeder and camera being put up...you are giving us a very jaded angle to this story.

If he had done the work to pre-pay for the lease for the 2023 season, it doesn't matter if he was getting off or not. Nothing on his end changed.