Corey Bailey, owner of Swamp Ghost Trail Cams and resident of Charenton, LA, arrowed this enormous 11-point buck on Wednesday morning, November 11 in Northeast Kansas. The giant is estimated to officially gross over 150″ P&Y.

Bailey, who goes by the screen name “SwampGhost” at BayouBucks.com, had seen the buck the previous morning while hunting another stand on his privately leased Kansas property. “I was hunting an observation stand along the edge of a CRP field trying to see what kind of bucks were in the area,” Bailey recalled. “This buck passed through that CRP dogging a doe at about 150 yards.” Since the doe never brought the buck within bow range that morning, Bailey decided to move to another location closer to where the activity was.

That afternoon, Bailey found himself in a fresh setup along the same CRP field but on the far side of it this time. Full of optimism, he settled in for the evening hunt. “I was fired up about the spot I’d moved to,” he noted. “There were so many trails passing near my stand from the creek into the CRP.” As the light faded that afternoon, however, so did Bailey’s enthusiasm. He’d only seen a decent 10-point out of range, and decided that he’d give the spot one more try the following morning before moving again to where he’d seen the buck at. Good thing he gave it another chance!

The next morning, the eager hunter arrived extra early to the same stand, hoping that the buck and hot doe were still in the area from the day before. As soon as the predawn darkness gave way to the first glimmers of light, Bailey caught movement of a doe about 100 yards into the CRP field. As she worked her way towards his ambush spot, he noticed a large, heavy-horned buck following her trail. “It was him!” Bailey excitedly recalled. “But she passed just out of range, and there was no doubt in my mind he was going to pass just out of range too.” Luckily for Bailey, the doe had disappeared over the hill before the buck got close, giving him an opportunity to try his grunt call as a last resort to turn the monster in his direction. “I grunted at him at 40 yards, and that sucker came barreling into to my setup. If he would’ve been close enough to see that doe, he’d have never paid my grunt any attention,” Bailey reasoned.

This Kansas brute was arrowed on the morning of November 11, 2009 by Corey Bailey of Charenton, LA. The buck weighed 195 lbs as a 3 1/2 year old, and is estimated to officially gross above 150" P&Y.

The buck remained inside 20 yards, but never presented Bailey with a decent shot. “He smashed a tree—I mean wore it out, but I could never get a shot! I just knew he was going to wind me at any moment,” he recounted. After working over several trees in a slow progression closer to Bailey’s lock-on, the buck finally presented a slightly quartering-towards broadside shot at 15 yards, and the full-drawn hunter sent the Spitfire® tipped arrow on its course—”THWACK!” The buck bolted back into the CRP field in the direction he’d come from, with Bailey never losing sight of the deer until the bruiser crashed at 70 yards. At this moment, his emotions ran deep. “I was pumped up, and still am!” he recalled. “I had tears in my eyes; you just don’t know!”

Bailey and his hunting partner and girlfriend Tyra have been hunting in Kansas since November 8, and will remain there until the 16th. Bailey, having tagged out on his wonderful 11-point, has now set his sights on helping Tyra arrow one of several monsters she’s seen on-stand thus far. “I’m tickled pink—just couldn’t be happier, unless of course Tyra can stick one,” he explained. “I’ll be filming all of her hunts from here on out, and we’ve got 5 more days to make it happen.” Congrats Corey, and the best of luck to you and Tyra.

Editor’s note: Corey will be updating the remainder of his Kansas trip within the BayouBucks.com deer hunting forum, under the thread entitled “Kansas Thread!!!!“