A half-dozen years ago a farm I hunted from time to time was sold to developers and mostly cleared.
Back in 1982 or so I built a permanent stand (I know, but it was pretty common in those days) in a huge old, live tree. I can't remember the species. I put the stand up in the spring because it was near a very nasty, brushy marsh that deer came out of in the evenings to go through a 200-yard wide patch of woods into a corn field. I showed up an hour before light on opening day and tried to find the stand. I looked and looked and couldn't even find the tree. I was flabergasted. I sat down and waited for daylight. When it got light I saw the tree, it had blown over, stand and all-- bummer but no where near as bad as your deal.