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Stout Shield
Tango
Ring of Health
Arcane Boots
Vanguard
Blink Dagger
Stout Shield
Tango
Ring of Health
Bottle
Tranquil Boots
Vanguard
Blink Dagger
Heaven's Halberd
Aghanim's Scepter
Manta Style
Ghost Scepter
Heart of Tarrasque
Hood of Defiance
Shiva's Guard
Blade Mail
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4 | 8 | 9 | 10 |  |
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2 | 3 | 5 | 7 |  |
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1 | 12 | 13 | 14 |  |
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6 | 11 | 16 |  |
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15 | 17 | 18 |
I play AXE as a jungler. I believe he is a fantastic ganker (particularly of solo lanes) and initiates like a boss. I try to take advantage of the positives of both the more traditional taunt-heavy Axe build as well as the just-as-viable Battle Hunger build.
When jungling as AXE, it is generally considered acceptable to max either Battle Hunger first, followed by Counter Helix, or Counter Helix followed by Berserker's Call. The first build makes use of Battle Hunger's stupid base damage if the DoT lasts for use in ganks. The second build is for slightly more safe jungling with Counter Helix. Once you've maxed Counter Helix, the opportunity for early-game ganks with Battle Hunger fades and you're forced to gank with Axe's taunt (still a great spell). You can also use the bonus armor as a short-duration steroid to help take Ancients earlier.
Taking Counter Helix at level 1 is an unavoidable necessity of safe Axe jungling. In fact, rank 1 Counter Helix has everything you need:
-the maximum 17% proc chance
-100 damage (53% of max rank)
-.65s ICD (30% more than max rank)
However, taking additional ranks in Counter Helix isn't that great. 30 damage and .05s ICD isn't a BAD upgrade, but it's nothing particularly special. It's better than stats, but you don't NEED it (for jungling or ganking) by any means.
Berserker's Call is similar to Counter Helix in that we get the great majority of its benefits in the first rank of the skill:
-30 Armor
-the minimum 10s CD
-1.5s duration (50% of the max rank)
"Why, Pranzatelli, would you ever get Berserker's Call over Counter Helix if they're both limited in the benefit of additional ranks and Counter Helix helps you jungle?"
Here's the reason: I'm not worried about slightly faster jungling, because that's not what helps my team nor is it what wins me safe gold. 30 more damage on a Counter Helix won't win my team their lanes (and hopefully the game) like an additional half a second of taunt in a gank.
So, we know this:
1. Battle Hunger is an absolutely fantastic skill to have at the very beginning of the game.
2. Berserker's Call is also a great ganking tool.
3. Counter Helix is important, but doesn't increase much between ranks.
THE THING TO WORRY ABOUT with this skill build is that you will drain mana quickly. Thankfully, you do not require mana to jungle, but you're a Strength character who ganks well if he has the mana. This is why we build Arcane Boots: so that you can gank.
ANOTHER THING TO WORRY ABOUT is that heroes under the effects of Battle Hunger can be denied by their allies. DO NOT LET THIS NONSENSE HAPPEN. Keep enemies apart and away from creeps when ganking (possibly taunted). Generally this isn't an issue, as Battle Hunger chunks for quite a bit and people are running for their lives and nearly-dead as these ganks are occuring anyway, but BE AWARE THAT IT THEORETICALLY COULD HAPPEN AND IT'S YOUR JOB TO MAKE SURE IT DOESN'T.
The starting items should seem very simple and ordinary and basic. There are those who choose to start with two Stout Shields and a Tango, and you may go right ahead. It's really not a big deal how you start. Here's an idea for a start: Get a single Stout Shield and three Tangos and wait for about five seconds after the game has started to buy an additional Tango before heading to wait for your camps. JUST A THOUGHT.
As stated in the Skill Sequence section, we get Arcane Boots because this build is unusually mana-heavy. To be honest, the change to Arcane Boots was almost unnoticeable; however, if you're particularly attached to your 
Phase Boots or 
Power Treads and are confident in your ability to manage mana, you go right ahead and buy those. Vanguard and Blink Dagger should make sense.
IF YOU'RE STRUGGLING WITH YOUR GANKS an idea I've found to be helpful is to buy a Bottle and Tranquil Boots instead of Arcane Boots. These will give you bursts of sustain that should make life easier, though you'll end up going back to base if you don't get runes regularly and thus might fall behind in levels.
You should also be familiar with many of these luxury items. Heart of Tarrasque, Shiva's Guard, Blade Mail and Hood of Defiance are all decent tanking items commonly built on AXE. I would build a Blade Mail later in the game, when auto-attackers are doing serious damage (and when your other items, eg., Heart of Tarrasque, might actually allow you to take it). Also, use Shiva's Guard or 
Pipe of Insight AFTER your taunt has faded.
The remaining three items all have synergy with AXE, but should not be picked up except under certain circumstances (or you're trolling).
should be picked up if your team is being dominated by a single stinking hard carry on their team. Blink Dagger in, taunt and disarm the carry, and BAM you're a better anti-carry than 
Razor. The 380 health and 25 evasion don't hurt either.
gives the same effect as a Heaven's Halberd with more opportunity for nukers on your team to gun down your target. Be aware, however, that you won't be doing much if your team is AD-heavy, and the target won't be affected by your Counter Helix.
should be picked up if you like to killsteal/are playing with pubs and need to carry. Get a Dagon to match it! (If you're new to the game, please don't actually build a Dagon.)
has a bunch of little things which help. The 4 armor, 190 health, 130 mana and 10% move speed are all nice. As is the disjointing active (thanks for the 
Primal Roar, but no thanks) and as is the ability of the illusions to Counter Helix. Get this if you're afraid of stuns and want lots of targets to confuse the enemy.
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