Hi man don't waste time and energy beating on the axle without the right tool. Rent the hub puller that looks like
this. The shallow flange should bolt right onto your hub using three of your lugs, with or without removing your brake rotors. Screwing that center bolt in the middle should apply enough pressure to the axle to press it out. Don't bolt the flange onto the hub so it's super tight. Leave some play. This way, once the center bolt is applying pressure on the axle, you can hit the head of the bolt with a five pound mallet to wakeup the axle, if needed.
Also, you may need to release the 2 control arms to give you enough freedom to get the axle out.