Four Archery Tips with Levi Morgan
By Tracy Breen
In the sport of tournament archery, few archers are as accomplished as Mathews Archery pro Levi Morgan. Morgan makes his living shooting his bow and has won countless professional archery titles. He has a very popular TV show called Bow Life TV. Every year on the line and in the field, Morgan has to repeatedly hit the mark while under an enormous amount of pressure. Most bowhunters I know, including myself, are always looking for ways to become better archers and bowhunters. Below Levi Morgan provides some great archery tips about how a person can shrink their group and put more meat in the freezer.
1. To be a top notch archer, your equipment must be fine tuned. Morgan believes this is something many bowhunters overlook. “You are only as good as your equipment allows. If you want to be a great archer, you need to learn how to tune your own bow or find a trustworthy pro shop that can do it for you. If a bow isn’t tuned properly, you won’t shoot as well as you could if the bow was dialed in,” Morgan explained.
2. If you are a hardcore bowhunter, you recognize that to be successful in the field, you need to be able to hit your mark. One way to fill more tags is by extending your range. “Many bowhunters will say that they don’t want to take a shot in the field past 30 yards so they only practice out to 30 yards. When a buck is standing at 30 yards, the hunter often gets nervous because the deer is at the greatest distance they practice at. All bowhunters should practice well beyond what they would shoot a deer at. Practice at 70 or 80 yards. If a person can shoot a pie plate at 80 yards, their confidence will be up and a 30 yard shot will be a shot they are confident they can make,” Morgan advised.
3. When shooting at extreme ranges like 80 yards, an arrow must be tuned perfectly. “I use Swhacker Broadheads. I like mechanical heads because they are easy to tune and they fly like darts. If a person is going to use a fixed blade, they should practice with the heads at great distances so they are confident in the field with them,” Morgan added.
4. One of the major reasons most bowhunters go home empty-handed is because they get buck fever and fold from the pressure. Morgan knows all about pressure. When he is filming a hunt, he is under a lot of pressure. When he is shooting in a tournament, a lot of money is on the line and many people are watching. Over the years, he has had to learn how to deal with being under intense pressure. “I think the key to dealing with pressure is having a mental checklist every time you draw the bow. I have a checklist that I go through in my head when I draw and focus on the target. When my checklist is complete, I shoot. I am not thinking about the big buck standing in front of me or all the people watching me. I am checking off my list. By focusing on my list and not on the high pressure situation, I am able to make the shot,” Morgan noted.
Being a top notch archer and bowhunter requires time and effort. Morgan believes archers starting out should try to practice 30 minutes a day almost daily. Seasoned veterans should practice several times a week. They key to success, whether a person is shooting in a tournament or the woods, boils down to practice and being able to consistently make good shots so when the moment of truth arrives, the body and the mind know exactly what to do.