Swazi Ambassador Spotlight - Jared Matthews

Who You Are

I live at the foothills of the Victorian high country near Albury/Wodonga. I am an Operations Manager for a large electrical contracting business I have a wife and two amazing little boys and collectively we have a strong passion for the outdoors. 

I grew up in the river country of central Victoria; we lived on a small cattle farm in which I spent most of my time exploring and working through my childhood and teenage years. We had a neighbour with a big property I would also run amok on and when not working I would be hunting to some extent. Mum spent a lot of time worrying as I would get home well after dark or leave before daylight after checking fox and rabbit traps and often duck hunting. 

Our neighbour had a big Sambar stag taxidermy on the wall and through magazines and reading books that lit a fire in me I couldn’t wait to get my car licence and head for the hills to find these majestic creatures and explore some untouched wilderness. 

Since the age of 18 I have spent countless hours in the mountains of Victoria hunting Sambar deer. We are so lucky to have such an incredible deer to hunt here any day of the year in most parts of the state. The country in parts come with million-dollar views, no sign of human life and you just never know what class of deer will be in the next gully, this alone draws you back and just makes you want to keep walking each time.

That being said, the country can be extremely demanding, it can be thick and steep whilst being freezing cold with snow or blistering hot sometimes both in the same day! With this I have learnt a great deal of patience and resilience that I can utilise in day to day life.

Although Sambar hunting is my bread and butter I have also been lucky enough to hunt all other species in Australia. Most of these species don’t offer the same mental and physical challenge of Sambar but that being said they definitely aren’t a walk in the park. I have been lucky enough to hunt and guide Banteng in Cobourg peninsula this is a very special place and honestly one of the last frontiers in the southern hemisphere everyone should experience.

 I have been lucky enough to hunt in a few other countries as well including New Zealand, Alaska and Kyrgyzstan. A highlight would be the record book moose I took back in 2016 in remote Western Alaska but all these hunts offered different challenges than those I experience back home. 

My advice to anyone getting into hunting is simple. Don't rush the learning aspect. Take your time to learn the animal, learn the country, and enjoy the process. You will make mistakes that's part of it but every mistake teaches you something. Keep it ethical, respect the game, and focus on becoming a better hunter rather than chasing quick success. When it all finally comes together because of what you've learned and earned, there's not much else that compares to that feeling.

The Victorian High Country can be a brutal place on gear. Between the thick scrub, steep country and weather that can change in an instant, it's not somewhere you want to be carrying equipment that's going to fall apart.

That's why I love Swazi. It's gear designed by Kiwis who live in country that's very similar to what we deal with here. It's tough where it needs to be, light enough to carry on long trips, and built with real-world conditions in mind.

When you're a few days from the ute and living out of your pack, you need gear that's going to hold up, keep you warm, and stay comfortable when the weather turns bad. Knowing your gear can handle whatever gets thrown at it lets you focus on the hunt rather than worrying about what you're wearing. 

The most memorable hunt I have had would be the moose hunt in Alaska. I saved for two and a half years nearly $50,000 AUD to hunt both Moose and Brown Bear. I got a new job offshore doing fly in fly out work and saved every penny. Fast forward to touching down in Alaska and catching a supercub out in the field. The first afternoon we glassed up some nice moose and plenty of bears this was something else and the excitement was at an absolute high. The next morning things would change, Rain, hail, fog set in and all this hunting is done by spot and stalk so whilst the fog laid low, we had to do the same. This was ok at the start but day 8 of a 10-day hunt still sitting in the tent and not seeing an animal this was really starting to hit mentally, I have just spent 50K to sit in a tent for 10 days! 

The afternoon of day 8 the sky parted and we could blow the dust off the binoculars, and all the animals had come out to feed. We saw some good moose before dark, I don’t think I slept that night in excitement we might actually get to hunt tomorrow. I kept checking outside and I could see stars, right up to daybreak and the fog rolled in again! This really hit me mentally and being positive was a challenge but around 11am the fog cleared, and we went in to overdrive glassing the surrounding country. I spotted a moose antler around 4km away, I put the spotter on it and told my guide who replied ahh it might be 55” I said lets go! Id rather take a 55” bull home than nothing. 

We had a big walk-through swampy beaver dams, steep hills and thick bush but we eventually got up on the ridge where we'd last seen him. The guide was about 10 meters in front and turned back around and looked at me like he'd seen a ghost with a broken voice said “it’s a freaking giant” 300 meters away standing there looking in our direction was something I can only describe as a dinosaur. I shouldered the 375 H&H and let him have it. The guide tackled me to the ground in celebration going “He’s a Booner!! (Boone and Crockett record book) I will never forget that moment I felt like time had frozen, a bittersweet of accomplishing a massive goal. 

We spent that afternoon/night butchering and walked back around midnight (in the bear tracks!) that put the hairs up on my back. The next day we went back and hauled it all out to the airstrip this was an absolute mission, but I did it all with a smile on my face. The bull measured in at 69 ¾ inches Number 80 all-time Boone and Crockett.

 What I would like people who have never hunted to understand is that there is so much more to it than simply taking an animal. In many ways, the animal is only a small part of the overall experience.

 For me hunting is about adventure, challenge, and spending time in places that most people will never see. It's about pushing yourself physically and mentally, learning resilience, and testing your ability to adapt when things don't go to plan.

 It's also one of the few opportunities in modern life to completely disconnect from the noise and demands of everyday life. When you're in the mountains or deep in the bush, you are fully present in the moment. There is a sense of peace and perspective that can be hard to find anywhere else.

 Hunting teaches patience, self-reliance, and respect for the animals and environments we spend time in. The harvest is important, but it's the journey, the lessons learned, and the connection to the outdoors that keep me coming back. That's what hunting really means to me.