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Peter Attia MD#156-Jake Muise: Humanely harvesting axis deer while alleviating its impact on Hawaii’s ecosystems
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CHAPTERS
- 0:02 – 12:19
Growing up in Rainbow Lake and learning to surf in Nova Scotia
Jake describes his childhood in a remote Northern Alberta oil town, where his father hunted a moose each year to feed the family, and the chores and cold of life there. After moving to Nova Scotia at 16, he took up surfing in freezing water with makeshift gear.
- •Rainbow Lake sat in the Arctic Circle, seven hours from the nearest town, and the family ate moose all winter
- •Chores included shoveling the roof, and his father warned that feeling tired was an early sign of hypothermia
- •The move to Nova Scotia at 16 led to cold-water surfing with a Navy dive suit and styrofoam boards
- •Money was tight, so he started a grass-cutting business to afford real gear
- 12:19 – 19:03
Volleyball, the University of Hawaii, and landing among the Molokai kids
Jake explains how volleyball helped him integrate in Nova Scotia and led to a University of Hawaii recruitment. A dorm mix-up put him with a group of Molokai students who took him in.
- •Volleyball gave him a way to meet people after the move at 15 or 16
- •Hawaii's coaches took a chance on the six-foot player after seeing surfing photos with icebergs
- •Culture shocks included board shorts and the dorm mix-up that placed him with the Molokai kids
- •The Molokai students welcomed him immediately
- 19:03 – 25:09
What makes Molokai special and Jake's adoption into the community
At Peter's prompting, Jake describes Molokai's size, population and values. He explains how the community has resisted development and how he was adopted by a local family.
- •Molokai is about 10 by 30 miles with roughly 7,000 people, most of them locals
- •There are no stoplights or major resorts, and the community fought off a resort at La'au Point
- •Roughly half the food comes from the ocean or the land, including subsistence hunting
- •Jake was hanai'd (adopted) by the same family as his friend Mike
- 25:09 – 34:59
College years, first axis deer meals, and missing the Olympic team
Jake recounts his Hawaii college career, when he hunted axis deer on Molokai recreationally and noticed he felt better eating the meat. After falling one spot short of Canada's Olympic team, he returned to Hawaii, met his wife on Molokai, and began thinking about better management of axis deer.
- •Hawaii finished top three every year, and the NCAA title they won was later taken back
- •He saw axis deer only as a recreational resource until he witnessed die-offs from overpopulation
- •He was cut from Canada's Olympic team by one spot and was devastated
- •His college capstone business plan and the Axis Deer Institute nonprofit gave him access to studies from India
- 34:59 – 47:20
How axis deer reached Hawaii and why they are so hard to hunt
Jake traces axis deer from their 1868 introduction to Molokai and their prolific breeding. Peter and Jake then discuss the animals' acute senses and evasive skills, which make them extremely hard to hunt.
- •King Kamehameha V brought seven deer from India in 1868 and placed them on Molokai
- •Axis deer breed year-round, and 89% of harvested does were lactating or pregnant
- •Peter describes their three superpowers of smell, sight and hearing, honed over a long history of evading tigers
- •Jake says they use other species like myna birds as alarms and rely on third-party information
- 47:20 – 47:54
How deer spread to Lanai and Maui and current population numbers
Jake explains how axis deer were moved to Lanai in the 1920s and Maui in the 1960s, and what the current populations are. He compares Hawaii's deer density with Texas Hill Country.
- •Lanai's population reached carrying capacity quickly, with about 21,000 deer
- •The Big Island refused its share, and Maui received deer in the 1960s
- •Maui is estimated at about 60,000 deer and could max out at 210,000, while Molokai is about 60 to 70,000
- •Established Hawaii areas hold about 25 deer per 100 acres, versus about six in Texas Hill Country
- 47:54 – 1:14:33
Tracking the illegally released deer on the Big Island
Jake describes the three-year effort with Mike to find four deer secretly flown to the Big Island. Military FLIR thermal equipment and helicopter surveys eventually let them find the animals and confirm none remained.
- •Four deer were dropped by helicopter and went undiscovered for about a year and a half
- •The team hunted nearly every day for a year and a half without seeing a deer
- •Military-loaned FLIR thermal binoculars finally revealed a buck in velvet five miles away
- •Repeated helicopter surveys gave them confidence the area was clear, with no sightings in eight years since
- •Jake credits his wife's support through the nighttime work
- 1:14:33 – 1:25:06
Ranchers on Maui and the ecological impact of too many deer
Jake explains the shift to Maui, where ranchers asked for help with tens of thousands of deer. He and Peter then discuss how unbalanced populations damage watersheds, farms, soil and reefs.
- •Maui ranchers said to just shoot the deer, which prompted Jake to look for a better way
- •Hawaii's native ecosystems evolved without grazing herbivores, so ungulates act like a salad bar in the watersheds
- •Deer compete with cattle at about seven to one and can wipe out a lettuce farm overnight
- •Soil runoff and nitrogen from scat affect reefs and the food they support
- 1:25:06 – 1:36:22
Rescuing cattle from the lava flow
Jake tells the story of using a helicopter net system to evacuate cattle cut off by lava flows during a Kilauea eruption. The story covers the risks of heat and gas and the community's response.
- •The team had already built a cattle net capture system carried under a helicopter
- •Two lava flows isolated a ranching area, and the state wanted the animals saved
- •The first cow, a 2,000-pound bull, was flown over the flow, and what looked like smoke turned out to be steam
- •They completed four missions and moved 40 to 50 cows
- 1:36:22 – 1:41:13
Building Maui Nui and meeting USDA requirements
Jake explains the legal landscape that put axis deer ownership with private landowners and how he approached the USDA about inspection. The company began with pet food to prove its harvesting efficiency before investing in a slaughter facility.
- •Because the deer are non-native, ownership and management fall to private landowners, and the company operates only on private land
- •The USDA's reply was a copy of the Federal Meat Inspection Act and a chance to follow it
- •The rules require humane handling, so the animal must be rendered immediately unconscious by a shot to the head
- •Pet food let them test the process and collect data for six to eight months before committing to a facility
- 1:41:13 – 1:56:50
The humane harvest process and its standards
Jake and Peter explain how field ante mortem inspection works with thermal imaging, with animals unpenned, unbaited and unstressed. They discuss why a head shot is instant compared with archery, the deliberate training around misses, and the efficiency standards.
- •Animals are inspected at rest in the wild through FLIR, with the inspector watching a screen
- •Peter explains a head shot causes central nervous system death, unlike the hemorrhagic death from an arrow
- •The team trains to miss 30% of the time, always high, so no animal is injured
- •A brick-and-mortar facility is asked for 95% efficiency, while Maui Nui reports operating above 99%
- •Range is about 200 yards because each deer is carried out on the back to protect carcass quality
- 1:56:50 – 2:14:23
Why axis deer meat is nutritionally exceptional
Peter and Jake discuss why axis deer meat tastes different, covering stress-free harvest, a grass-heavy diet and picky eating. Jake describes bone broth testing that came back far higher in protein than regenerative beef bones.
- •Lack of stress at harvest affects glycogen, lactate and pH during rigor mortis
- •Video collars showed deer are mostly grass eaters and very selective about what they eat
- •Bone broth tested 33% higher in protein per ounce than the best regenerative beef bones, which Jake describes as a statistical anomaly
- •Peter says wild game like axis deer and elk changed his appetite for store-bought meat
- 2:14:23 – 2:19:09
Axis deer for the reluctant meat eater
Peter and Jake share stories of people who had stopped eating meat and chose to try axis deer after learning about the harvest process. Jake emphasizes that the mission is balancing populations, which requires people to eat the animals.
- •Peter describes his vegan nanny trying the meat during quarantine and loving it
- •Jake describes testimonials from people returning to meat after 20 years
- •Jake says the mission is to balance populations, not eliminate the animals
- •Nose-to-tail use includes dog chews, pet food and bone broth
- 2:19:09 – 2:33:49
What balance looks like and COVID food donations
Jake explains that balance is set with private landowners using aerial surveys and a small per-pound payment, and that eradication isn't feasible. He describes donating 50,000 pounds of venison during COVID, which USDA-certified infrastructure made possible.
- •Landowners decide how many deer they want, and surveys let the team adjust numbers with conditions like drought
- •Paying ranchers per pound makes the animal valuable to them
- •Jake says eradication is not possible because the deer are too smart and numerous
- •They donated 50,000 pounds, over 100,000 meals, to food banks during COVID, which hunters could not legally do
- •Jake argues deer should be out of the watersheds and the focus should be on where food is produced
