Timberwolf Axe Throwing offers a family-friendly atmosphere

The first Timberwolf Axe Throwing location opened in February 2021 in Carrollton, Ga., while a second location opened in Morganton in June of that same year.

Morganton native Nathan Kistler and his wife, Amber, are co-owners of the original location, and his parents, Connelly Springs residents Dave and Betsy Kistler, own the second location, which can be found at 1247 Burkemont Ave. Suite 1239 next to Harbor Freight in the Magnolia Plaza shopping center.

“We’re the owners and we have several employees that work here, but when COVID hit, Carrollton, Ga., is about the same demographics as Morganton, and so they opened down there,” said Dave Kistler. “He (Nathan) called and said, ‘Hey Dad, have you guys considered doing something like this?’ Which we had not. And he said, ‘It’s giving people something to do because all the bowling alleys and all the entertainment are closed.’ So to give families and individuals, corporations, businesses something to do, that’s why we opened.”

Timberwolf’s standard operating hours are Thursdays from 5-10 p.m., Fridays from 5-11 p.m., Saturdays from 2-10 p.m., and Sundays from 2-6 p.m., but groups can book lanes on other days as well, provided Kistler is in town – he is a full-time minister and evangelist – or an employee is available to oversee operations. 

“We have lots of birthday parties,” said Kistler. “... Lots of Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, corporate team building events, church groups, businesses, just all kinds of things. I typically negotiate prices with the group that’s coming in. … Typically they’ll call and say, ‘Hey, we want to bring a big group.’ It just depends on the size of the group, if they’re bringing 40, 50 people we give them a big discount.”

Timberwolf also does a special event every year around Sept. 11 in honor of the military. Employees hang a big banner on the wall that says something about supporting the troops, and anyone who comes in and is willing to sign the banner can throw axes at a discounted rate.

“What we’re trying to do is get as many signatures from the community to show support for the military, and then we actually take that and we deliver it to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.,” said Kistler. “What we did with that is tap my contacts at the Pentagon because we’ve done several crusade-type events in the Pentagon, and so we just utilize that … and they’ll hang that somewhere in a prominent place in the Pentagon so that people can see that folks in Western North Carolina really appreciate our military and what they’re doing.”

According to Kistler, groups of 15 or more get $5 off the regular hourly price of $20 per person for ages 15 and up and $15 per person for ages 10-14. A waiver must be signed before throwing axes, and that can be done online or in person, while lanes can also be booked online.

There are 12 lanes available at Timberwolf, and there’s also a kids’ area for children ages 9 and younger that includes Nerf axes and darts. Those who pay to throw can receive a free cup of coffee or hot chocolate, while snacks, soft drinks, bottled water, and energy drinks are available for purchase as well.

“We’re just trying to create the best possible axe throwing environment, the best possible axe throwing experience that nobody could have anywhere else,” said Kistler, who added that Timberwolf doesn’t currently offer any axe throwing leagues, “but we’re definitely considering it.”

One of the biggest differences between Timberwolf and other axe throwing businesses is the fact that Timberwolf doesn’t serve alcohol, with Kistler stating that “we made the choice based on our Christian belief not to serve alcohol.”

“Personally, I just never thought alcohol and axes went together because we keep our axes real sharp so they go into the targets, and we just didn’t want any issues,” he said. “Now, we’ve had some people come in that had been maybe drinking somewhere else and that’s never been a problem at all because we supervise things well. But we want to be family-oriented where people could bring their kids in, not have to worry about there being any alcohol-related incidents where somebody would say something, do something that would be inappropriate, and so far it’s been wonderful and people seem to appreciate it greatly.”

Kistler acknowledged that the fall and winter months are generally busier for Timberwolf because it’s colder outside and people are looking for indoor activities. But overall, “we’ve been really pleased” with the response from the community thus far.

“It’s given us an opportunity to impact the business community of the area, the corporate community, and obviously the church community in a way that we wouldn’t have otherwise,” said Kistler. “And so we’ve loved it, we’ve absolutely loved it.”

Kistler also pointed out that one of the other things that differentiates Timberwolf from fellow axe throwing places is the addition of a black line 10 feet from the target for people to throw from if they need to get closer than the regulation throwing distance, which is designated by a white line 12 feet from the target. 

“Everybody has a natural rotation when they throw an axe, and what we do here is we teach you how to throw an axe correctly,” said Kistler. “A lot of axe throwing businesses that I’ve been to, they just hand you an axe and turn you loose, but they don’t give you a lot of instructions other than talking a little bit about safety. But we go through how to throw an axe and the step zone is for if somebody’s throwing an axe and instead of hitting on the blade it’s hitting on the head of the axe, that’s a quarter rotation too much. If you step over that white line, halfway toward that black line, you’re creating less distance for the axe to travel … and then once you get acclimated to putting the axe into the target, you can begin working your way back to regulation throwing distance.

“Once we start, we’ve got timers on all the lanes that are preset to 60 minutes and 30 seconds, and once those start over the course of an hour that someone’s here, I tend to watch, all of our employees watch, to see if people are being successful at it, having a good time. If they’re struggling, if they ask, we’ll certainly come over. We try not to hover, but we will walk over and say, ‘Hey, can I make a suggestion to you? Try this and it’ll help you be more successful.’ And most places don’t do that, but we really are not selling axe throwing, we’re selling axe sticking if I could word it that way. If you can’t get it to go in the target you’re not gonna enjoy it, not gonna have a good time.” 

For more information about Timberwolf Axe Throwing, visit timberwolfaxe.com, look for the business on Facebook, or call 828-302-2060.

Josh McKinney can be reached at 828-445-8595 or josh@thepaper.media.