Tricks to pulling an axle shaft?

Hey,
I've got an XJ Dana 44 I picked up. I wanna take out the axle shafts but I have no slide hammer. I tried just pull but it seems to be in there pretty snug. Any ideas how to get it out? For reference I did take off the 4 retaining nuts so the retaining plate and my drum are loose.

Thanks,
Kevin

i placed a long-ish prybar across the back of the wheel mounting flange, then whacked the prybar with a small sledge and the axle popped right out. you may have to remove the brake shoes to do this- i'm not sure if there's enough clearance otherwise.

After a little convincing that popped it out Thanks!