Swing Out, Sister! - We've Got An Axe To Grind

These gals are making the cut!

- Cloe Willetts

Calling themselves Assassin Ashley, Sniper Sarah and Bull’s Eye Betty, these feisty femmes love hurling axes at targets. In fact, Wellington-based Ashley Lemasters, Sarah Hilyard and Erika Slaughter enjoy axe throwing so much, they are carving careers out of it!

“There’s something really satisfying about sinking an axe into a chunk of wood!” says Erika, 30, who is a long way from her hometown of Austin, Texas. Like her boss Sarah and colleague Ashley, the flame-haired gal works as an instructor at Sweet Axe Throwing, New Zealand’s first indoor venue dedicated to the sport. For these target-piercers, a big part of the fun in being “axe-perts” is empowering other females to step outside their comfort zones.

“My male flatmate told me, ‘You can drink your rum, you throw axes for a living and you stick up for yourself – you’re the definition of a bad-ass woman!’” laughs Erika, who learnt to hurl an axe as a teen.