Someone turned that axe into a brush hook, when I was 16 I worked with a fire road clearing team out in the woods, the city hired us kids to teach us to work and put a little money in our pockets. We used all hand tools, axes, saws, scythes and such. We started out with a brush hook in our arsenal but the boss took it away after so many kids who didn't know how to use it ended up with stiches in their ankles and legs from the cuts it made.
As a kid growing up on a hobby farm we used one to clear honeysuckle patches, I knew how to use one but they could be very dangerous.