COOL HAND LUKE

It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for Luke Aschebrock getting out into the New Zealand bush and hunting a pest animal is precisely the way he likes to acquire his meat.

Upper Hutt hunter, Luke Aschebrock, has been regularly venturing out in search of bush tucker for the last few years. It was a friend of his who first invited him to join in, and it wasn’t long before Luke was hooked. He finds the activity, the exercise, and the adrenalin a perfect mix. ‘I just love getting out and away, and pushing myself as well. And then appreciating what you’ve done after you’ve got it.’

Luke refers to hunting with the idiom, ‘You’re killing two birds with one stone. You’re getting rid of a pest and providing good quality meat.’

Luke mainly targets deer. His wife’s family has a block of land in the Wairarapa, and it’s through there that both fallow and red deer pass through. The smaller fallow deer has the more tender meat and is 20–30kg lighter, making it far easier for a hunter to carry out.

WHY HUNT?

Red deer were regularly introduced as ‘game’ animals until 1926, with populations coming from the UK and Australia. With no natural predators here, they immediately thrived, so another six breeds of deer were introduced, then moose. They were brought here for hunting, but by 1910 both farmers and foresters were worried about the impact of large herds of deer. Grazing lands were being eaten, as was the undergrowth in native forests and subalpine areas. What had slowed rainfall runoff was disappearing, and inevitably erosion and downstream flooding began to occur.

In 1930, the Department of Internal Affairs began employing teams of deer cullers, but that was phased out in the 1970s, and now it’s commercial and private hunters who are out in the hills targeting deer.

Luke fills his freezer with the locally processed prime cuts, mince, patties, and sausages, and he says his kids just mow through it. Having their dad provide fresh and local venison has also taught them to appreciate where meat comes from. ‘It teaches them about wasting food. A life has been sacrificed for you so you can eat. You’ve got to remember that.’

It’s not only Luke’s whānau who regularly enjoys his labours, but on occasion he will fire up a barbeque at work as well. Favouring herbed and spicy rubs for the venison, he enjoys sharing with his coworkers. ‘I’ll take it in and cook it up for the boys. It’s one of those things – being able to source your food and provide it to people’.

FIRST INDICATORS

A workshop supervisor for Transit Group, Luke and his team of five take care of the Metlink fleet of buses in Wellington. It’s physical mahi, so just before his diagnosis, 13 years ago, Luke put his newlyexperienced fatigue down to the demanding nature of his work. He also noticed he always felt dehydrated, even when drinking 10-15 litres of water a day. ‘It wasn’t until I took some leave from work and made an appointment with the doctor. They took a reading. The glucose meter only goes so high, and it said HIGH.’

When he went to hospital, the triage nurse gave him another finger prick and said, ‘Grab a bed, you’ll be here a little while.’

At 22, and with no prior family history, Luke’s first encounter with diabetes was a steep and frightening learning curve. ‘I knew very little. You don’t know if it’s a terminal thing. You’re going back over all the reasons why you might’ve got it. It’s just luck of the draw, and I pulled a rubbish card.’

Luke’s journey with diabetes took a more positive turn when his work was relocated to Wellington and he enrolled under the care of the Hutt Valley DHB. As he holds heavy vehicle licences, Luke is required to have an annual medical with a specialist. When seeing the endocrinologist, he was asked if he would like to be under the care of the diabetes nurse, and from there he could look at trialling a pump. ‘I had nothing to lose, so thought, why not?’

At the same time, Luke had a few appointments with a dietitian. He says, up until then, he knew nothing about carbohydrates and the power they have on blood glucose. ‘No one had talked to me about carb counting. I was purely winging it with just some pens until then. When I think back, I go, how I did it up until then, I don’t know.’

Before discovering the pump, the possibility of having a hypo was always lurking in the background, and Luke says it is an experience he’s not too keen to repeat. He equates it with having hollow legs or having just run a marathon. ‘There’s nothing in your head, so you go instinctive. My wife knew if I’d had an episode because the pantry was destroyed; packets of things everywhere because you go into survival mode. You don’t want to be in the way.’

A new pump-user will typically consult with a diabetes nurse, who will work out the ratio of insulin sensitivity of each particular patient. Luke hasn’t looked back since taking on the pump. ‘It was doing a lot of my stuff for me. I could dial back my bolus. I could detune myself. It’s made my life so much easier.’

He explains that, due to pens not having decimal points, you’re either dialling too much or not enough. ‘When you’re living like that, your body is going up and down and it’s exhausting.’ His family were quick to notice that, as soon as he took on the pump, he became a calmer person and less irritable.

Luke finds his hypos are symptomatic and predictable. He has never used a CGM, saying until they are funded in New Zealand he’ll manage fine with a standard glucose monitor. ‘Although they’d be a major gamechanger, CGMs are an extra cost, and it feels like you’re just subscribing to the illness.’

THE HUNT IS ON

The arrival of the pump coincided with Luke discovering hunting. With his new-found comparative freedom, he began tagging along with his hunter friend and learning the art of tracking. A lot of hunting is intuition and understanding animal behaviour. Another skill is being able to tell if a track was made by humans or animals. Game trails are the animals’ highways – the quickest route between places – and deer and pigs go back and forth along these tracks. Luke says if you get in a good position and take time to watch these highways, then that’s often where your luck comes from.

Luke says, on one of his early hunts, he heard a bit of noise going on. ‘Turned out there was a goat looking at us. My friend said if you want to take it, take it.’ His friend passed him his firearm and quietly talked him what to do. Afterwards, he joked that, if it had been a deer, Luke would have missed out. Deer aren’t as inquisitive as goats and will get going as soon as they smell you.

DIABETES CHECKS

Does diabetes affect Luke’s handling of a firearm? He has many checks in place. He hunts with others. He carries a good stash of lollies, muesli bars, and sugary drinks with him, and his wife always knows when to expect him home from a hunt. If he’s hunting on the family’s private block, there is cell phone reception so help is on hand if needed. And if he’s heading into deep bush, then the hunting party always carries a Personal Locator Beacon.

Before he’s even taken aim, Luke tests his blood glucose on the hour, then again before loading up his firearm. His rifle is only loaded in the hunting zone, and all safeties are on, meaning he has to consciously disengage it before firing. Most importantly, he has passed the mandatory firearms safety course that anyone who wants to own a firearm must achieve, and he is licenced to carry a firearm.

Sources: https://teara.govt.nz/en/deer-anddeer-farming/page-1 and https://www.doc.govt. nz/nature/pests-and-threats/animal-pests/deer/