Ok, today I finally got a hold of a guy in two towns away (35-40 minute drive on the highway) who has a stationary band mill. Incidentally, he is the only person that I've found with a band mill within 2 hours of me. Anyway, I talked with him about making a target and he told me that he has thrown the ax a bit in the past too. I told him I was looking for oak, but he recommended I use a soft wood, like cottonwood or soft maple, both of which are common around here and the only trees that readily grow to 3ft+ diameter. I had thought that someone recommended oak to me at one time, but now I'm thinking maybe the cottonwood would be fine to try? We also discussed thickness and he recommended 10 inches for the softwoods.

My axe handle turned out great. It was my first time using Boiled Linseed Oil. The feel is good.
I was also doing two shovel handles too. I had stained them, and then applied the BLO. After two days they were still tacky. Then someone told me that I should have wiped off the excess BLO about a half hour after applying it. I tried rubbing the handles with mineral spirits and letting them dry another 2 days to no avail, still tacky. So tonight I said the heck with it and scuffed the tacky BLO with a scotchbrite pad(equal to 400 grit), and layed 1 coat of polyurethane on. Tomorrow I'll add a second. That's how I've finished garden tool handles in the past. The BLO worked on the ax handle, maybe because it's a different wood? Or maybe it absorbed it better?