PITTSBORO — I stood, axe in hand, ready to kill.
More precisely: to take my kill shot.
No one’s life was in danger, but my competitive pride was: in our third and final game at Pittsboro’s “Top That Axe” — an indoor sports bar featuring axe throwing, a sport growing in popularity — I trailed Matt Ramey, one of our photographers, by five points.
The other two combatants in our game, reporters Ben Rappaport and Taylor Heeden, weren’t close enough in score to catch us. Matt and I split the first two games and I was determined to win the “rubber match.”
None of us had ever thrown before, or been to an axe-throwing spot. But after 90 minutes of chucking axes and getting a feel for it, we were already fans.
Our final match, though, was down to Matt and me. It was our 10th and final frame in the game, and each of us had a single throw left. A “bull’s-eye” would tie the score. And Matt was on a hot streak.
Which meant that my best chance to beat Matt was to pull off a rarity in axe-throwing: to declare my final throw a “kill shot.” Instead of aiming for the bull’s-eye at the target 12 feet away, I’d aim at one of two small dots near the upper corners — and an eight-point throw.
A bull’s-eye would get me six points, and give me a one-point lead. But Matt had scored on every toss through nine frames this game — a remarkable achievement for a beginner. Even with my bull’s-eye, all Matt would need to do to beat me was stick his last throw.
So I called it. I needed eight points.
“Kill shot,” I said.
It was my last hope.
I took aim, released the 1.5-pound axe toward my target.
***
Axe-throwing has become a popular pastime in the U.S. after its start as a sport in Europe two decades ago. Lumberjacks have been doing it competitively for much longer, but it didn’t become a commercial venture in the U.S. until the last few years.
Top That Axe’s intimate space provides four lanes for axe-throwing, with safeguards and safety features designed to make beginners like us feel comfortable. There’s a bar, too, serving beers (including some local brews from Carolina Brewery), wine, ciders and seltzers. Owners Jem and Tracy Wheeler — they each have full-time jobs, as well as owning another business — gave us inside pool on their shop and the sport.
If you’ve not thrown an axe, you might be inclined to think:
• It’ll be too difficult
• I’m not strong enough
• I might injure someone — maybe myself — with an errant toss
• I don’t want to risk making a fool of myself in front of others
We had those fears and more.
In reality, though, if you’ve spent any time at all throwing any kind of ball, it’s an easy sport to pick up. It’s been a while since I’ve thrown a baseball or a football, but 45 years of honing a golf swing and the mechanics I learned from lots of time around a billiard table as a kid provided me with a good foundation. Rhythm, taking dead aim, and letting the momentum of the weight of the axe — really, overpowering it makes for a bad throw — all contributed to me getting a feel for axe-throwing pretty quickly.
Jem’s tips helped, too. After two or three consecutive tosses that saw my axe blade hit near the center of the target, but failing to “stick,” he simply told me: “Take a half a step closer to the target before starting your throw.”
It worked like magic. In short order I’d rather easily won the first game, and had a nice lead in the second — until Matt got the hang of it.
And I’m happy to report we had no injuries. Nothing even close. Jem told us that most people get hurt not from throwing the axes, but rather from handing them to one another. That’s circumvented at Top That Axe by having the thrower retrieve the axe and place it in a holder along the wall; because only one thrower is allowed in the “lane” at a time, and because of clear and concise enforced rules, you’d have to really try to get hurt.
There’s never been an injury there, Jem said, and Top That Axe’s staff keeps a close eye (and ear) on the proceedings. The careless, sloppy and unruly patrons get called out.
We were neither careless nor sloppy. We were there to learn, and report about our experience. And we had some surprising results.
I step up to the line and throw. No thoughts, no practice, just instinct.
The axe rotates through the air once, twice, three times … then lands perfectly in the smallish red dot at the center of the target.
Bull’s-eye.
It was my first throw of the afternoon at Top That Axe — and the first time I’d ever thrown an axe — and I had already reached the pinnacle of the sport. I envisioned it so clearly: sponsorships, shoe deals, car commercials. I was on the path to be the star of ESPN’s The Ocho and the face of international axe throwing.
Surely, I would mop the floor with my News + Record colleagues.
But my grandiose visions, and any chance I had at victory, were soon washed away. I quickly fell from the peak to the valley. Throw after throw, I heard the loud “thunk” of the axe hitting the wooden board — cottonwood is the preferred source — and the metal blade subsequently clanging on the ground.
Indeed, that first instinctual bull’s-eye was the only one I hit all day. I finished in third place out of the four of us; it was a humbling, and intensely frustrating, fall from grace. Try as I might, I couldn’t replicate the flawless form that was certain to skyrocket me to axe-throwing stardom. I got too in my head.
“You’re lowering your elbow and dropping it too low,” Top That Axe owner Jem advised after watching yet another axe clang on the ground for 0 points. “Try keeping that elbow up and following all the way through your lunge.”
But even tips from the uber-helpful Jem and a film analysis session with my competitor and CN+R Publisher Bill Horner III couldn’t save my spiraling ineptitude. I quickly shot down the leader board.
Despite my dashed dreams, the afternoon was still a thrill. I, like many people, had apprehensions about the mixing of throwing sharp blades and alcohol (it was a Saturday, and we did each have a single beer in our final game. I’m not sure if Bill considered it a “business expense” or not). But Jem and the Top That Axe crew made the activity feel incredibly safe. They answered the dozens of questions hurled at them by a group of over-curious journalists and by the time we started throwing axes, I was convinced: this is no more dangerous than bowling.
And lots more fun.
By the time I got home, I was itching to come back and hone my skills. Maybe a shoe deal was a ways away, but my experience made me a believer in the county’s trendiest new activity. (You can also check out Chatham Axes at The Plant in Pittsboro.)
I also went into Top that Axe on that fateful Saturday afternoon with no expectations. The only weapon I’ve ever held was a bow and arrow as a Girl Scout Camp Counselor, and that isn’t exactly the same as throwing a hand-axe at a wooden target.
To be honest, throwing an axe seemed like a cathartic way to release any stress I had, and, if anything, I would get to feel like a Viking heroine.
So when Bill messaged our newsroom about an opportunity for a first-person story about axe throwing in Chatham County, I saw a chance to become one of those strong, renegade female protagonists. I would be a fool to turn down that opportunity. I knew I would probably not be the best at throwing axes, but I figured since I had done archery before, maybe this would somehow be similar.
That couldn’t have been farther from the truth.
When I first stepped up to the line with an axe in my hand, everything my parents told me about throwing sharp objects came to mind. I was holding a blade, and I had the intention to throw it: two things my parents told me never to do.
Forgetting the three ways Jem told us would be the best for throwing the axe, I chucked it with one hand, flinching as it hit below the target with a loud boom.
Not very heroic of me, I admit.
Jem took a few steps toward me, offering some additional advice on what to do to get the axe to the actual target instead of falling short.
“When you threw it, you didn’t lunge forward,” he said. “That power from stepping up is where your strength will come from, so be sure to take that step.”
I took his advice and used my next frame to practice my step-then-throw motions. The axe made it to the target on the second throw, but it didn’t stick. That’s how 95% of my throws went for the next two games.
Before we started the third game, I had scored a grand total of fewer than 10 points — inside the outer ring is one point; just outside the bull’s-eye is four, and the bull’s-eye is six — and my male co-workers (minus Ben) had been mopping up the competition.
After downing my cup of Mexican lager from Carolina Brewery, I was ready to make an attempt to do what felt impossible: landing a bull’s-eye.
On the first throw, I landed in the first ring of the target. An improvement, but not a bull’s-eye. The rest of the game was a better performance than the last two, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with our photographer Matt, who had scored every frame.
The last frame came as fast as the game started, and I still hadn’t scored a center shot. I took down my hair from its ponytail, channeling every warlord queen I could think of.
I took the axe in both my hands, and I decided to go for a different throwing style. Lifting the axe over my head, with my right hand lining up with the red circle in the middle of the board, I aimed and took my shot.
Cheers erupted from my co-workers as my axe landed smack dab in the middle of the target. Finally, a bull’s-eye! I jumped for joy, and Matt immediately picked up the camera and took a photo to commend the moment.
While I wasn’t the highest-scoring teammate — yes, I finished last — I definitely had a lot of fun throwing axes with my peers. It’s an activity I didn’t expect to enjoy as much as I did, and I knew when I left I would be trying to find others who would go with me on a second trip.
My impressions of Top That Axe: the facility is unassuming, humble, really. A simple bar anchors the entry area, and when you walk in you see four lanes behind. It’s very homey. The owners are quiet and kind, they give a thorough explanation about the facility, the safety rules, the gameplay. They’re knowledgeable about the sport and obviously passionate about it since they both have other jobs besides their axe throwing business.
It takes a few throws to get a feel for what you’re doing. The sound of the axe striking the wood is loud; when you miss, and don’t stick a shot, it’s way louder. It takes a bit to get used to that. Once you get a feel for the throwing, it’s quite similar to golf, bowling or shooting sports. The only thing holding you back from the bull’s-eye is you.
I like sports where I’m competing against myself even more so than the other players. Axe throwing gives space for introspection and understanding your body mechanics.
I did not think I would enjoy it as much as I did. It felt very safe (the axes are not as sharp as you’d think they’d be), and I’d absolutely go back for an occasion (birthday) or just for a fun night/afternoon out. It wasn’t as difficult as you may think. Once you understand how to do it, it’s easy to improve if you pay attention to the mechanics of your body.
Jem told us at the outset that a score of 40 means you’re doing really well. As you play, you have to pay attention to your body. But once you have the mechanics, it’s very doable. I trailed Bill 22-11 after the 7th frame of the second game, and ended up winning 25-22 with a bull’s-eye and two fours on my next three throws — while Bill was hitting near the center of the target, but not getting his axe to “stick.”
I was getting the hang of it.
My “kill shot” — an attempt to get eight points and take the lead, and put the pressure on Matt in the final frame of our final game — struck near the kill shot circle, but alas, didn’t stick. I finished with 30 points, which wasn’t bad after having only two points through four frames. I had three bull’s-eyes in a four-frame span, but Matt’s hot streak, and his four-point final throw, gave him the win.
It was well-deserved, and almost scoring 40 on your third game as a first-timer was — even in Jem’s eyes — quite a feat.
Matt Ramey:
The win felt nice mainly for my own personal accomplishment. I’m not an especially competitive person. I compete with myself. So to know that I worked and tried to hone the skill in such a short time felt nice against someone like Bill, who naturally had a knack for the sport.
I wasn’t nervous about Bill’s kill shot. But part of me was thinking ... what if? As it was, I stuck a “four,” and finished with 39 points.
Next time? I’ll be gunning for 40-plus.