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Home / The Country

Listen: Davey Hughes vs. a grizzly bear

The Country
14 May, 2018 02:45 AM2 mins to read

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Davey Hughes, "The Swazi Man." Photo / Ashleigh Collis

Davey Hughes, "The Swazi Man." Photo / Ashleigh Collis

Hunting and Fishing legend Davey Hughes missed out on opening weekend as he has been too busy "beavering" away with his apparel company Swazi.

Hughes caught up with The Country's Jamie Mackay for a chat about the origins of his iconic clothing company and to tell a of a hair-raising encounter he once had with a grizzly bear.

Swazi came about from Hughes' love of hunting which resulted in him becoming an "expert" on being "wet and cold."

"So I thought, OK, let's set about providing clothing for people that'll keep them warm and dry, and that's really how the whole thing kicked off."

Swazi has branched out into streetwear which Hughes says is produced "mainly for the corporates."

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It's not just possum trapping and duck hunting, as Hughes tells Mackay of a time he was charged by a grizzly bear and what he learned from the experience.

"There's only two things you need to know about grizzly bears. Number one, they are entirely unpredictable. Number two, they are incredibly fast. They'll run down a racehorse over 100 metres so don't run from a bear - you haven't got a hope in hell."

Also in today's interview: Davey Hughes looks forward to Fieldays and his trip to the Southern Alps to hunt Tahr.

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