I didn't know there was such a sport as Axe Throwing.. My adult grand daughter and her husband spent Sunday afternoon at a AXE THROWING competition. Axe Throwing is a target sport, similar to darts, and it’s on the rise. Players stand behind a foul line, approximately 10-12 feet from the target (depending on venue and organization), and try to throw their axe into the target. The targets are labeled like most target sports, with the highest points in the bullseye, and decreasing the further your axe lands from the center. At the end of the game, players add up their throws and the highest score wins. Every place has slightly varying rules, but those are the basics.
As a kid, we did that, but with hatchets, not axes. Viewing photos of what are called ax-throwing competitions, I see that they are using what we would have called hatchets, with much shorter handles than axes.
Our Scout troop used to have a spring festival they called the Turkey Shoot. No turkeys were involved, but the emphasis was on weaponry of all kinds. Tomahawk throwing was one event, as were slingshots, archery, small bore and large bore rifles, and skeet shooting. The accumulated scores over two days determined the winner.
I have been throwing axes, hatchets, tomahawks, and knives since I was 5. Splitting kindling can be boring, but taking a break to throw the hatchet or axe at a log end really puts some spark in such a chore. What do you want to know about axe throwing? First, the learning process is hard on handles and one learns how to replace handles and properly drive in the little metal ridge cleated wedges. There is single bit and double bit axes. The double bit is the easiest to learn because of balance and two ends to stick instead of one. Competitions can have anywhere from a single flip to several flips throws. This is in reference to how many rotations the axe makes before the bit sticks in the log. Double bit axe throwing in a logging contest will differ from an axe or tomahawk throwing contest at a buckskin rendezvous. Today popular axe-throwing competitions are much more rigid than the informal buck skinners gathering. The most commonly seen these days is a double bit axe with only one step forward as you release the axe. .. My favourite throw was choosing a distance from the target to allow 3 axe flips and then the stick. .
What you saw were hatchet throws. There are hatchet throw places just like batting cages or shooting ranges. The real axe throws use a double bit axe. Some shorten the handle, but I prefer to leave it standard length. This lady uses a shortened handle, the one flip, and the standing method. This is what you see in competitions these days. Here is the popular hatchet throwing. Here is tomahawk throwing. Now here is a guy that knows how to throw. This is the kind of thing we did at local logging competitions and mountain fun gatherings. Notice his triple flip with a double bit axe at 5:48 where its slowed down. Three nice flips and a stick in tree bark. Sticking in tree bark is not as easy as a log end.
I just read that Millennials are making axe-throwing competitions very, very popular in a few major/big cities. Actually, Miss Rodeo America (Jordan Tierney) put a video on her Facebook page of herself throwing an axe at a target and was very impressed that she hit inside the target. She was at a rodeo that had this........I believe in Oregon. There's a video on Facebook of her doing it. Facebook Click above, on Facebook, and you'll see her.
I participated in hatchet throwing contest. I was about a 20 percent. Hit or stuck one in five. I was better at throwing knives.
I too was on a dart team and have also thrown an axe or two but after snapping a handle I decided I needed the axe more than I needed to learn how to throw it. I now own a full steel 26” Estwing. Maybe I’ll give throwing another try. Then there was the time when I almost threw a battle axe out of a door but her daughter and I got a divorce instead.