Rack Report: Sebastian's Second-Chance Buck

Buck: Green-scored 177 2/8
Hunter: Sebastian Acevedo 7 years-old
Time of year: September 10, 2012
Location: Kingman County, Kansas
Weapon: Savage .243

When Brooklyn, New York, bowhunter Gene Acevedo first hunted Kansas, he was hooked. The Sunflower State’s big bucks left such an impression that he knew he needed to get his young son Sebastian involved.

“The bucks in Kansas are so much bigger than our bucks in New York,” Acevedo said. “I really like the pace of life there too. It’s a lot less hectic than where I live.”

Acevedo is the Director of Operations for Western Beef, Inc., a large supermarket chain on the East Coast. He admits his job keeps him busy, but he has made time to hunt Kansas for nine years now. His best buck was a 143-inch 8-pointer he arrowed in 2009.

Gene hunts with Ben Oak, operator of Twin Fork Outfitters (620) 532- 6351 in Kingman County. Oak offers hunts in south-central Kansas. “I have hunted whitetails all over the country, and Ben has the best run operation that I have ever seen,” Acevedo said.

In 2011, Gene decided his 6-year-old son Sebastian was old enough to hunt the Kansas youth season. During his first hunt, Oak joined Gene and Sebastian in a blind constructed of hay bales near the edge of a food plot. Two prominent trails regularly brought some impressive bucks onto the feed field.

At first light, a huge buck appeared. The deer’s muscled physique and split brow tines indicated that it was the big buck that Oak had been watching. Oak gave Sebastian the “okay” and the youngster pulled the trigger. The buck lurched at the shot before vanishing into a nearby woodlot. Oak felt like the buck was well-hit, but after searching for several hours and finding only specks of blood, he believed the shot was non-lethal. Sebastian was dejected by the news, but he took a 10-pointer that scored 130 inches the next day.

Saturday Sept. 8, 2012, Gene and Sebastian returned to hunt with Oak for the youth season. At Oak’s suggestion the Acevedos returned to the same blind where Sebastian nicked the big buck the previous season.

Minutes after first light a respectable 9-pointer walked onto the field. “You can take him if you want,” Gene said. But Sebastian passed, hoping for a bigger one.
On Monday morning, Sept. 10, the Acevedos again returned to the hay bale blind and had two nice bucks appear near a pond by the field. Oak recognized the larger buck, noticing the unique, split brow tines. “I knew it was the same buck we nicked the year before,” Oak opined. “I told Sebastian, this is the buck I want you want to shoot.”

Sebastian steadied his crosshairs on the buck that stood 100 yards away and squeezed the trigger. Like the previous year, the buck lurched and vanished into the thick woods.

After waiting 45 minutes, the trio slipped out of the blind and walked back to Oak’s truck. Ben drove back to his lodge to get additional help to look for the buck. It was nearly two hours before they returned to look for Sebastian’s buck. Oak asked the hunters to wait at the truck while he walked into the woods to look for the buck. Seconds later he returned with a big smile and uplifted arms.

“We were ecstatic,” Gene said.

When the father and son walked up on the buck they were amazed. “Oh my God,” Gene exclaimed as he hugged Sebastian. The old buck carried a typical 10-point frame with split brow tines. Oak rough-scored the buck at 177 2/8.

Gene summed up his thoughts by saying, “Unfortunately a lot of people don’t have the time to get their kids involved in hunting,” he said. “You have to make the time to do it. It’s a fantastic thing.”