When Shelburne County professional lumberjack and businessman Darren Hudson opened his Timber Lounge in Halifax, he was given a gift by his uncle Stanley Scott.
“He said you might need an axe to help get you started,” recalled Hudson in an interview.
His uncle Stanley’s double bitted axe was one his twin brothers Raymond and Rene had brought back from western Canada when doing lumberjack competitions there in the 1960s.
Hudson says his uncle remodelled the axe, making it lighter and giving it better balance so that it was more suited to the sport of axe-throwing.
“Uncle Stanley has a keen eye on how to modify things, how to make it better,” said Hudson.
At first Hudson set the axe aside.
“I didn’t want it to get damaged. When we started the Timber Lounge in Moncton, my axe throwing manager said he needed help," he said.
"He wanted to do trick shots and he needed a lightweight axe. That one was just perfect for him. He fell in love with it and after a while it was so special that he really got attached to it, but realized if he was using it for all these trick shots, and he might damage it, so he said what we have to do is replicate this axe.”
So, Hudson set out to find a blacksmith who could forge the axe exactly.
“When I got it back it worked so well I said okay, we’re going into mass production of this axe, and that’s how it began.”
Hudson further redesigned the axe to make it even lighter and still meets competition standards.
“What we changed on this axe was the six-inch cutting face . . . the scales or scooping of the axe is designed to reduce weight.”
Hudson has named his design the Wild Axe Dragon. “It’s an original version. There’s not another double bitted throwing axe that looks like it on the market now,” he said.
The Wild Axe Dragon weighs in at 2.85 pounds, with a total weight of 4.0 to 4.4 pounds, depending on the wood used for the handle, which are hand carved by Gil Boudreau of Moncton. Hudson has been using the Wild Axe Dragon a lot.
“The balance is incredible. It throws some smooth," he said. "It actually feels like throwing nothing at all. It just glides.”
Hudson has been retailing the axe on his website, wildaxe.com. “It’s been selling a lot to local leaguers, people across Nova Scotia. People in Europe are interested in it as well.”
He will also be retailing the Wild Axe Dragon in his home community of Barrington at the soon-to-be-opened axe throwing hall – adjacent to Wild Axe Park – at the former Barrington Volunteer Fire Department hall.
“We’re starting up an indoor throwing location so we can keep an edge – keep sharp over the wintertime,” he said. “We’re almost ready to open our doors to the public so we can offer axe throwing activities. We currently have the Wild Axe League but we’re also starting a newcomer league as well.”
Axe throwing is a "recreational activity that really brings people together,” said Hudson.
“It's a great way to share laughs, good times and develop relationships with other people. We’ve brought a lot of people into the sport by building the infrastructure and creating the facility. Connecting those relationships has been great – not only those who were in the sport previously, there are so many newcomers. It’s really one big welcoming family.”
Hudson also retails axe throwing targets so that if people want to do a backyard set up they can.
“Anything to help get people started, find competitions," he said "It’s all about growing a great healthy community.”
