Throwing axes
Starkville gun range offers axe throwing as the sport grows in popularity nation-wide
Thump! Clang! Thump! Clang!
One after another, flung axes bounce all over the walls that divide three lanes for wooden targets, then fall to the concrete floor.
It seems none of the 15 or so participants in this Synergetics corporate team-building exercise can figure out how to stick the axe blade into anything, much less their wooden target, as the practice round commences.
Then, amid the dissonant sounds created by the errantly hurled weapons, comes a more muffled, but distinct “Thunk!”
Angela Martinez, on her first try, sticks an axe in the wall just a few inches above her target.
Using the two-handed throw a Gunco Store and Range instructor recommended, Martinez toes the line about 10 feet up the lane and sticks axes near the target on her next two throws. On her fifth and final practice toss, she nails the target, just missing to the right of the bullseye.
Martinez’s coworkers notice – all impressed but some jokingly rumbling there might be a ringer in their ranks.
“I swear I’ve never done this before,” says Martinez, a sales development representative. “I mean, I hunt and stuff, but this is the first time I’ve ever thrown an axe.”
Similar in spirit to darts, axe throwing involves hurling an axe or hatchet against a target, which is typically made of wood and has the familiar bullseye surrounded by concentric rings. It’s a sport that’s been gaining in popularity nation-wide for a little more than a year. Venues range from sparse warehouses to swanky bars.
The National Axe Throwing Federation was formed in 2016 to encourage league and tournament play, but most people initially get exposed to the sport in more casual environs such as Gunco. Individuals 18 or over (or as young as 16 if accompanied by an adult) can throw the assorted weapons at the range for $20 an hour. Private parties and corporate events are also welcome.
For the team from Synergetics, “different” was the draw.
“It’s so nice to get out of the office with the team and have a competition where everyone is laughing,” said marketing manager Sherea Mercure who organized the outing. “We thought this would be unique and fun. I would definitely recommend it to anyone.”
Calvin Lim stands toward the back of the indoor axe throwing range supervising the competition and offering the occasional advice to the fledgling throwers.
“Use your hips,” proves helpful to the most people over time.
On a table Lim has prepared lay several two-pound “heavy” axes, a few 20-ounce tomahawk-style “light” axes, as well as assorted knives and stars from which the throwers can choose.
“The heavy axes are actually easier to use because they are more likely to stick,” he tells one participant.
Lim, a certified firearms instructor, has worked for Gunco since it opened on Highway 182 in Clayton Village in spring 2017. But he’s thrown knives and axes off-and-on for 15 years, starting when he was a teen.
“This is really hard to do well, and if you don’t practice it’s so easy to lose (the skill),” Lim said. “When I came out here the first time, I hadn’t done it in a while. It took me 10 minutes of throwing to get one on the target.”
Range rules dictate an axe-throwing coach be present for all such events. The Synergetics crew was the second “big group” he’s coached since the gun store and shooting range added the axe throwing facility in May.
“Usually it’s fathers/sons or husbands/wives who come to throw,” Lim said. “It gives people a little something different to do for recreation, and it’s a little more primal, honestly. … The main thing is we want people to be safe and have a good time.”
Five throwers line up at each lane. The rules for the night are simple, as Mercure explains.
Each competitor gets five throws, with the top two point earners in each lane squaring off in a five-throw semifinal. Then each lane winner will get another five throws in the finals.
Sticking the bullseye earns 10 points, the middle ring 5 and the outer ring 3.
They can use any weapon on the table.
The various competitors take turns slinging the sharp objects and moving through the tournament. Martinez — the first to make an axe stick during practice — breezed through to the finals.
She’s facing off against Marc Lening and Byron Ketcham. Ketcham switched from axes to throwing stars halfway through the first round and easily pushed through to the championship round.
There, Lening falls behind quickly, while the favored Martinez, still throwing axes, valiantly tries to keep pace with Ketcham.
When it’s over, Ketcham wins by only two points.
“I’m very surprised,” he says after his victory, before picking up a few knives to throw at the targets just for fun.
Turns out, he’s pretty good with those, too.
