Seth Hubbard, 28, was recently featured in the Outdoor News for procuring a monster deer he and some of his associates intimately named, Double Down.
The deer was shot with a bow on Hubbard’s family property the third day of the hunting opener and tallied a 188-2/8 count. He took first place in the Whitetail Nontypical Archery category for the Outdoor News Deer & Turkey Classic.
Hubbard said he and fellow avid hunters have been following Double Down — a five-and-a-half-year-old buck — since it was a two-years-old. They have video and pictures on trail cams on their property in the Perham area.
“Since deer tend to mature at around 5-1/2 to 6 years of age, we all knew this deer was close to harvesting,” said Seth.
On opening day, Seth and family members were at their property and Seth’s dad was there. Seth knew the patterns of Double Down and was sure the giant buck would be coming through their area that weekend.
With that, he positioned his dad to be the slayer of the most-sought-out deer in years.
“He (dad) sat there that first day and had no luck,” said Seth. “So Sunday came and he sat there again...no luck.”
Seth was sure the deer would waltz through the area sooner rather than later, so he took Monday off of work to sit in the very seat his father had been sitting the previous two days. Sure enough, Double Down emerged and the legend was brought down.
“I really wish my dad had gotten the opportunity,” said Seth. “After scouting, planning, putting up trail cams and food plots, it was really satisfying taking this tremendous animal.”
Seth has been hunting since the age of 12 but actually captured the bug when he tagged along with his dad at the age of four for his first hunting trip.
“I wasn’t hunting then, of course, but the adventure hooked me,” he said.
Seth likes to bow hunt over rifle hunt, though he does both. He has seven deer mounts at home and at the cabin as well as a bear mount and a bear rug. He also hunts turkey and small game.
Seth’s good fortune in life took an upswing about a year-and-a-half ago when he decided to try online dating. He hooked up with a beautiful, young lady from French Island, WI named Nicole and the two started dating. Turns out, Nicole has learned to love the sport of hunting and even has an impressive mount alongside Seth’s mounts in the basement of their home.
Seth says he loves the challenge of hunting with a bow as opposed to hunting with a gun. He says it’s a lot more “up-front and personal” with a bow because you don’t have the luxury of shooting hundreds of yards like you do with a rifle.
“My tip for any hunter is to be aware of the wind and the direction the deer are approaching you on all hunts,” he said. “Also, spend time at your stand, learn the patterns and use trail cams. And don’t be afraid to do selective harvest because if you wait long enough, you too might nab a huge deer like Double Down.”
Seth and Nicole got engaged last November.
The deer Seth and Nicole have harvested were mounted by Seth’s great uncle, Fred Schaefer of Annandale. They commonly make breakfast sausage and steaks from the meat and have them processed typically from Donny Pappenfus.
Seth is a graduate of Becker High School (‘07) and played football and basketball. His other hobbies include fishing and watching sports on TV. He works at Hubbard Electric under the ownership of his cousin, Ryan, who took over the company Seth’s dad started in 2003.
