Cameron Hanes - Keep Hammering Collective - KHC 039 - Levi Morgan

Episode Date: September 19, 2023

Join us for a discussion with Levi Morgan, the World's most renowned archer. Listen in as Cam and Levi talk about the differences in archery hunting versus tournaments and more! Follow along: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cameronrhanes Twitter: https://twitter.com/cameronhanes Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/camhanes/ Website: https://www.cameronhanes.com   Levi Morgan Links: https://www.instagram.com/bowlife_levi/  https://www.youtube.com/@ManimlMindset    Thank you to our sponsors: MUD\WTR: https://mudwtr.com/cam use code Cam for 15% off  Hoyt: http://bit.ly/3Zdamyv  Leupold: https://www.leupold.com/ Black Rifle: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Use code KEEPHAMMERING for 20% your first Order Groove Life: https://www.groovelife.com Bass Pro/Cabelas: https://www.basspro.com MTN OPS Supplements: https://mtnops.com/ Use code KEEPHAMMERING for 20% off and Free Shipping Go Ruck: https://www.goruck.com use code CAM for 10% off  Breeo: https://breeo.co    Timestamps: 0:00:00  Intro 0:01:46  Lift Run Shoot Recap 0:05:27  Challenging Courses 0:07:42  How Levi Became the Best in the World 0:16:57  The Next Tournament is Always the Hardest 0:18:55  Levi’s Role Models as a Kid 0:22:41  Growth, Routine & Strategy 0:28:21  Judging Yardage - “My Absolute” 0:37:18  There Are No Limits 0:38:52  Tournament Earnings 0:40:28  No Blueprint for Success in Archery 0:44:10  MANIML Mindset 0:48:52  A Legend in the Bow Rack 0:56:04  Levi’s Hunting Goals 0:57:41  Most Anticipated Hunt 01:05:21  Archery is More Intimate 01:07:02  The Difference - Hunting VS Tournaments 01:10:27  Money Shots or Screw Ups?  01:13:14  Levi’s Tips for Cam’s Shooting 01:21:18  Outro  

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Every step I take, I move my truth. Every time they tell me stop I use. Every comment, hate that, makes my feel cocking, saying the way that I move it's so reckless. That is a part of my mind I've been blessed with. Giving my blood so I am relentless. This is a Keep Hammering Collective with Levi Morgan. How are you doing? I'm great, man. Been an awesome day.

Oh, man. We've made the most of it, haven't we? Yeah. We get one day, you're here in Oregon, getting ready to go elk hunting. Yeah. And we had one day to make it all happen, and we did it. Yeah, it was fun. I wasn't sure it was going to happen because we're both leaving to go hunting.

I'm glad it did. It was an incredible day. Well, I mean, being able to shoot with you, Ann, I just got to say right off the bat, Levi gave me this, his jersey that you won worlds in this? Yeah. Is that right? And I can't tell you how, I mean, I'm so honored to have this. It's like, this is such a meaningful gift to me. Thank you.

Yeah, no problem, man. I just appreciate what you stand for and what you've done for bow hunting. And I've been a fan of yours for a long time. And so I was like, I don't have a lot that I think he would think is cool. But I did win the world's in this jersey. And I'll take it. See if he wants it. Oh, I can't even.

I mean, I can't remember the last gift I got that. I was like, you know, when you get as old as me, if you want something, you've bought it. Right. So it's like I don't want for anything, really. I feel blessed with everything I have. So to get something like this that's meaningful, it's like, it's special for me so thank you

yeah absolutely man man that's a that's a huge honor but um I do want to say so I put up one video from today and it's not like I only put up the one where it was debatable on who had the closest arrow it was the only one we had on a phone

so it's like I didn't pick and choose like you know because most of them if we would have filmed everyone would be Levi spanking me on every target so it wasn't that You'll have to wait for the show for that. But the only one we had on the phone was the one I put up. Yeah, but you made some good shots today.

I mean, you beat me on a few, like legit, like what and close? But we had some great shots, and then some I wish I could take back. But at 105 yards on that black bear, I would take either one of those, I think. Me too, me too. And, you know, yeah, it's not like I beat you. It's like you did something to yourself on those. I mean, on the ones where I had anything to do with it, really? you won.

So that's how it worked out. But yeah, I mean, it was just a great day of shooting. Man, I don't, I was nervous because you're the best in the world, right? I'm, as I said, I'm happy Gilmore out there compared to, to a shooter McGavin. And I hope we got you doing the shooter, shooter. Feels so weird to do that. I haven't seen that movie in forever. Yeah, I hope we got that.

I hope Tanner got that because that'll be on the lift. and shoot for sure but that is actually that movie came to life today it was funny it was it was great because you got the trigger punching uh bow hunter against man just the best ever to ever do it on in archery and uh it was you know i've been practicing where we shot today now i can just tell the truth i've been going out there every single day practicing i had some shots and i'm like okay The first time shooting these are going to be hard, right? Yeah. And I thought, okay, I'm setting myself up for success here.

And, you know, my two go-toes, you beat me on both of them, the 70-yard downhill on the deer and then on the, I think it's a white tail. And then I don't know which one it was, but it's 70 yards and 80 yards, but threw a bunch of stuff. And I'm like, okay, these are mine. No. No, honestly, we shot a tough range.

Yeah. Like, it was fun. I love doing that. I like when we're shooting targets and you're thinking, And if I make a mistake, I'm going to miss the entire thing. It was a fun day of shooting, difficult, technical range. The 86-yard or up the hills, the one I remember most. That was a tough one.

That was a tough one. And you got a 12, I'm pretty sure. Yeah, that was one of the better shots I made. That one and the first one on the Black Bear, probably my two best today. First one. Oh, yeah, yeah. So we got out of the truck, and I always like just to get out of the truck, no warm up because that's hunting. And I step out and just wherever I'm parked, I shoot at that.

black bear and that was i think it was like 70 right yeah i was like well dang this is way to start get the bow out of the case and i made a freaking good shot i'm like okay you had to put your bow together because you were traveling with it and i'm like okay putting your bow together stepping out of the truck and then i make a good shot no you got a couple i left a couple inches to the right and you put it right in there yeah i think that's a good like the first shot tells you a lot about your equipment and where you're at like for hunting because obviously you hunt for days and days. I mean, it's the first shot pretty much of that day. That's the one that matters. So a lot of times like in hunting season, that's the one like I'm looking at when I go out and practice that

first cold shot. Yeah. And if it's off, I'm like, okay, I got some work to do. Yeah. So. Well, you weren't off today. Not today. That was so fun. I don't know how many we shot. We probably, it's like, I would say probably 20, right? Yeah. And they're all, there wasn't too many just straight up, straight shots, like 40 or 50 yards. They were all like, I usually shoot way back and make it challenging. And yeah, it was so fun. It was.

Man, I could do that every day. Same. And that range is like cool. It's just like kind of sheltered, but almost like a rainforest feel in there. Yeah, I got to give a shout out to Chris Stewart. He owns that property. He owns the Dutch brothers here in town. the coffee shops and he just like you know whenever you want to come out here anytime and I've

been shooting that course I mean it's I haven't shot it in years until you know practicing for you basically but uh I used to go out there and you know it's just a bunch of good shooters good guys that get together and push each other and have fun and so I got a you know I'm thankful for him just to let me do whatever I want there yeah that's like I have a range of my house but that had that like old school club Phil and I missed that with the stakes in the ground. Yeah. And I was telling you today it's kind of funny because I grew up shooting

Pisgabo hunters in North Carolina. Yeah. And so that was like my home club and it was like the best club around and it was that same in the mountains kind of course. And that's, I still to this day kind of, because I do really well on like really hilly mountainous tournaments like where it's tough angles and steep

and it's all because, because of where I grew up. Right. Shooting like shooting side hills, downhill, uphill, I'm comfortable there. You take guys from flat ground and put them in that environment, and it's a total shock. Right. So big shout out to my old club that I don't even know if it's still going. I haven't been there in years, but it was a lot of good memories.

So today reminded me a lot of that. Yeah, it was, you know, we had, you know, kind of, I don't know, like challenging footing on some of them. Some we shot from our knees, sometimes, you know, shooting overlooking. limbs, but you're looking under the limb to the target. So yeah, it's like a lot like hunting. And it was just, man, it was so good. So I was going to say, how does a kid from North Carolina who grew up, you know, I don't know if you had any advantages or not, doesn't sound like he did, but just had a passion for shooting a bow and arrow. How do you get to be the best in the world? That's a good question, man. I mean, I grew up, you know, I started.

We had struggles, but it wasn't like we were poor. My dad was a rock mason. Never went hungry. I had a great mom and dad that supported it. And then I had a dad that really just demanded excellence and the strive for excellence and discipline when I was very young. And he saw something in me when I was really little, five, six years old.

He was just a bow hunter. Started taking me to local shoots. I started winning everything at like five and six. and the Cub class and the kids, and everybody's like, this kid's good, and I just like shooting an arrow, you know. So then he takes me to the IBO worlds, and I shoot in the youth or the club division there,

and tie for first, end up getting second, lost on the final arrow, or shoot-off arrow. And so he just quit shooting tournaments and just started taking me around and just like was my coach, my whole life. And so, I mean, it's a tiny little town in the mountain of North Carolina.

And there was, You know, it was like this path that I had a goal I wanted, even as a teenager all the way through my teenage years, but it was like there was no template to get there. And I wasn't, you know, we didn't have a lot of, you know, means to do it. But my mom and dad sacrificed everything for me to go to these tournaments when I was younger and win through the amateur ranks. And then when I turned 18, graduated high school,

and I had won a lot of several worlds, and Shooter the years as an amateur. But in high school, I quit and focused on sports, girls, all the things that are distractions to most high school guys. Yeah. And then after high school, I was like, man, I'm really, I miss it. I'm hungry. I want, I still have this thing burning inside of me that I want to go do.

And didn't know how to do it then, you know. And then I'm working as a Mason. My dad's a Rock Mason. So I'm working for him some and then on my own, so I'm trying to start my own business. didn't go to college and then just set out and said I'm going to go do it

so I was working 60 hours a week as a mason to pay my way I had no sponsors no free gear no nothing and the whole year of 2006 I graduated in 2005 2006 was my rookie year

never even made a top five and struggled big time you know broke and me and Samantha were trying to like start a life together and I'm like trying to be a mason trying to be an archer, trying to be, you know, a fiance,

and it was like just not great. And so that whole offseason, I'm like, I'm going to figure this out. Worked my butt off, practicing, practicing, practicing. And the first tournament in 2000, I won rookie a year, but never won a major event or even came close. You were just like top 10 type thing? Top 10, I'd be the first guy out of the finals. Just like one little thing.

It was like, I know this is what I want to do. Like I can feel it burn. I know I got what it takes, but I can't figure it out, you know. And right when I'd get there to win, it was like something would happen and I'd just miss the finals. And so that offseason, I'm like, okay, where am I weak? Where am I? Where do I suck at this game? Where am I missing it?

So I went through that entire off season and just, I mean, every spare second I was working at this craft with just this burning desire. Like, what were you working on? So I took notes big time back then. I was like logging everything. So I would shoot certain targets, certain lighting, certain lanes, certain sunny, rainy, shady, like the terrain, the target, the way it's facing wind. Then I went back and saw after I was logging this for months and months, I went back and looked and I started to see tendencies that I had and weaknesses on certain scenarios and weaknesses on certain targets. And so I slowly started to fix those. because I'm like, I'm just missing it by this much, you know. And so I started to fix all my weaknesses and still stay strong where I was strong. And then 07 comes around and I'm excited. I'm like, I'm going to take it, you know. And then the first event comes and I'm the first guy out again.

And I'm like, my gosh, you know. And it's like I'm not making money. I'm traveling and sacrificing everything. And like we're broke and I come home and I'm just defeated and trying to, you know, still do this rock masonry business and the economy's not doing great you know and it's like what are we going to do and so i'm leaving to go to the second tournament and samantha's like hey you you know how much we have in our account and i said no i haven't checked she's like we're negative 700 bucks and i'm like oh my gosh i can't go i was like i mean you know it's a 1200 dollar deal to even get there and

entry fees and food and like, okay, like that's it. Like God, I think I get it. I'm not supposed to do this. You know, it's my dream and I'm not going to put my family through this. So I call my dad because I knew it was kind of his dream too for me and he'd sacrificed so much in my mom. And I said, look, I said, I don't have the money to go. That was a pretty low place, you know? And I'm like, I just wanted you guys to know first and I'm walking away. And my dad was like, look, if you'll go one more time. I'm going to pay your way just one time. He said, just go one more. And so I said, okay. I said, I'll find a way to pay you back. But one more time. And he's like, then we can all feel like, okay, like if you want to walk away. And I go to the shoot. And so you talk about pressure.

It's like, this is it, right? You're backed in a corner. Everything you've worked for and dreamed of. It's like riding on this event. And it was Haddysburg, Mississippi. I was 19. and I remember after the, we, at the time, we could shoot 14s, so we shot at 14s today a little bit, but we could play those during the official round. And so a guy named Darren Christianberry was still this day, one of my best friends, he was the man at the time to beat. And he hit the first four 14s of the, like just the qualifying round. And I shot 10s. So I'm 16 points back after four targets.

So I'm like, I'm so screwed, you know. But something clicked right. there and I lost all fear of like anything and it was like now or never but like kind of thing and so I just started gunning and I think I shot at 18 14s that weekend hit 16 of them set a world record that still never been broken won the entire event and I've still never shot that high of a score to this day and I mean it was a crazy feeling of just like God was like okay like it almost felt like I had to get to the point where I had given it all that I had and he was almost showing me like without me you ain't doing this you know and so I called my dad we cried together and it was kind of a crazy

feeling like finally it's like all that work and all that effort and it paid off and so that was my first pro win but I was quitting before I got there and most people don't know that story so Wow, that is, I mean, that's amazing. That's where, I mean, but that's why you are who you are. You know, I mean, it's, I think a big thing that I noticed in, in what you say and how you carry yourself and what you write is you do give glory to God. Yeah. And I think that it falls on line with, it'd be hard for you not to after the way you phrase that and word that.

And I don't know, just how that defraise. find intervention. Yeah. Kind of paved or kind of turn the tide for you essentially, ready to quit. Instead, you set a world record. Yeah. Just by, yeah, I mean.

It was a weird thing. It's like, and so I've had so many instances like that where I'm like, I don't have it anymore, not feeling it this weekend, no way I can win. And it's just like when those moments, it always seems like something clicks and I know it's not me that did it, you know? And so I've always just felt like, Why me? Why am I allowed to do this?

Because I don't feel like I'm that good. I don't feel like I deserve to be the one standing there when the smoke clears, but he's just allowed me to do it so many times. And so that's why I think I'm so quick to give credit to him because I know deep in my heart that it wasn't me. I did the work, but a lot of guys do work and a lot of guys are great. And so I'm just very grateful, very thankful to have been able to do, you know, what I've done. And I just was this redneck from the Carolinas that wanted to be.

shoot a bow and had this dream that just still to this day burns you know and has never been put out and just love to shoot yeah it's uh i mean your journey's been incredible so you were minus 700 what'd you win from that tournament do you remember i won about 25 grand did yeah and funny story was i went home so because my wife samantha was driving this rickety car that like and she was going to she was um like a i don't even know what you call it not a nurse but like one of those steps but below and she was working her way through nursing school and and she was driving to work like 5 a.m. and the car was like breaking down and so the first thing we did I went and bought her a new car and like two weeks in we're broke again.

Yeah. And I'm like, oh no, like because as a kid where I come from, you win 25 grand. You're like, I'm rich. Yes, the lottery. And then two weeks later, you're broke again and it was like, oh, man, I got to win again, you know. And so I was kind of, we were talking to the day, people are always like, that first win is the hardest. And I'm like, ah, I don't think so. It's always been the next one that's the hardest

because that next win was like, oh, I got to prove it wasn't a fluke. Right. You know, you're this nobody kid that just set a world record and you come to the next event, everybody's looking at you. Right. And all of a sudden there's this cloud of expectation that's following you everywhere. And I tanked.

I shot awful. Maybe the worst score I've ever shot as a professional in that next event. It was in Texas. and you talk about like a wake-up call, like from high to low. But it was funny. I battled back one the one after that in Augusta and ended up winning Shooter of the Year

and the Worlds that year. And so just been a struggle, you know, through all that. It was, but I think even struggling as a kid is what kind of sparked that dream for me. I think if everything would have kind of been handed to me, there would have been nothing to dream about. And so I always just dreamed of doing something cool. like that and felt it inside.

And so to do that, that year in 07 was like, it was like probably the best year ever for me shooting. Yeah. Who was, who'd you look up to at that time in archery? Randy Ulmer, Jeff Hopkins, Darren Christianberry. They were just the top, you know, Tim Gillingham. Danny McCarthy was really young at the time, too. He was in his early 20s, but he was shooting really well.

Many and me are still, it's like the rivalry, but we're good friends too, but he's just an unbelievable shot. But like my heroes were Randy Olmer and Jeff Hopkins growing up. Jeff is the one that held all the records whenever I started, and that's kind of who I was chasing at the time. Did you get them all? Yeah, in 3D, I got them all. But it was funny, and I, you know, Jeff, we're good friends now, but we were not good friends

for a while. We had some ups and downs because, I mean, we're both competitors, I think, and he saw this dumb kid that he felt was just where did he come from, I guess, you know, and I just remember a day in August, that Augusta shoot that I won in 07. I got peered with him, and we're shooting, and he had me quite a bit. I think it was like the bottom of the peer group, but I had made that top peer group. And by Target 4, I had caught him. on the final day and I was just on a roll

and I just couldn't miss. One of those days, it was just like, couldn't do anything wrong. Yeah. 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12. And he was frustrated and this kid just passed him. But that's my hero at the time. And I'm like, I was like trying to ease the tension. And I'm like, hey, man, like it's crazy what you've done, you know?

And it's winning seven shooter of the years in a row. Nobody's ever done that. And he goes, he looks me right in the eyes and goes, then nobody will ever do it again. And I was just like melted into my seat. Like, oh, yeah. But at that moment, I was like, maybe not, but I just dedicated my whole life to it. So it lit a fire under me for sure right there.

And what were you at? I won 12 in a row. Yeah. And so, you know, those years, the tie them was a rough year because it was a big mental barrier because it was kind of like you work. You win once you. The year two, three, four. No big deal, really.

I mean, it is. But it's like, but you get six. and you're like, okay, he said I wouldn't do it. Yeah. Then you get to seven, and then you get to those last few arrows, and it's tight, and you're like, seven years of work is riding on this shot. Right. And it was heavy.

I bet. And then I did it. And then the next year to beat his record was even heavier. It was like that final. I'll never forget that finally. I could take you back to the tree I was standing next to in Columbus, Georgia, whenever I did that. But just some of those moments that were really, really heavy over the years, stand out big time, you know,

and people tell me I wouldn't do things have always kind of been the motivation too. And I learned one thing. I'll never tell a 19-year-old kid what he's not going to do. Less of 100. So did he say anything to you after you want, passed him? No, not really.

Still to this day, we've never really talked about it. We can, but he's still a legend in my mind. I'm still a huge Jeff fan. Yeah. He's still out there just crushing it. And, no, we, We have, we get along great now. You know, it's just those years as a competitor

and it's your life. And everything you've worked for, obviously. It's hard when you see somebody coming and it's, you know, frustrating when you don't know how to beat them. Yeah. And I've been there with McCarthy and some of these other kids at times.

It's like, I don't know how to beat them. Mm-hmm. And you can be at your best and still not win and it's a frustrating feeling. So I'm not, I don't hold any hard feelings towards him at all. We get along great. He's a good guy and we can laugh about it now.

Yeah, man. Incredible stories. Well, how have you changed from that kid who won the first one and you got shooter of the year, even that year, to now? I mean, is the routine the same? Is the strategy is the same? Or what's changed? No, routine is definitely not the same because I had no kids then. I got four now.

I had nothing else but shooting then. So that's all I did. And it was like just this every day of just it's all. I did because I quit my masonry business when I started winning and just it was all this just shooting and I obviously hunted because I loved it did you hunt your whole life or when did you okay that's kind of how me and dad hunted together um and still do and my brother so it was that's kind of how I got started and it's always been what I loved archery is another love but it's like so different but um now it's more strategy like I feel like I have to outsmart people because I don't have the

time to prepare like I used to. But what I do is so strategy-based that I can still compete by, I feel like by outsmarting. How so? So when we're on a range, like today we were shooting, say we had no range finders. And then an ASA, the 12 is in the bottom corner of the 10. And so if you shoot low, you're an 8. And so it's kind of a risk reward type thing.

Do I shoot a safe 10, which for people listening and don't know, it's kind of, a 10 would be like par and golf. A 12 would be like a birdie. and so an eight would be like a boge and so it's like where do I where do I take my risks because then they took the 14 away like a year after I won in 07 so we didn't have that anymore so we had 12s and we had to play that game and so it's um you have to strategize in that game especially when you don't have a range finder because I'm having to judge and guess distance and it's like if it's all about minimizing mistakes play in the 10 ring given your

a chance to shoot 12s and getting on that streak at some point where you get four or five, six in a row that boost you into the finals and then you make a run in the finals to win. And so that's kind of the strategy. Tons of guys I watch out there that I shoot with are amazing archers and they have the ability and they'll shoot and get on this roll and they see themselves going up the leaderboard and they just slam on the brakes because they want to protect. Get conservative. Yeah, they get conservative way too fast.

and then it's like, boom, boom, boom, you pass them and they just miss it. And so that's what I did, my rookie year. And so when I lost breaks, is when I started winning. It was like, no breaks. We don't play conservative. We're 12 and everything.

But it's kind of like you do that, but at the same time, you're being smart about how you play that. But once you get to 12, 14 up, which would engulf would be like under, most guys are like, I need to protect this and take it into the finals, where I'm like,

I want to get such a big lead here. They can't catch me in the finals. And that's really the mindset. I think that's one more tournament for me than anything. It's aggressive. It's aggressive. Yeah. And they kind of are going to laugh at me because they're like,

if I go into the finals and I'm behind, they're like, Ricky Bobby today, you know? Yeah. It's like, we're either going to win or wreck the car trying. Right. And that's just kind of the way I've attacked it, especially now that I can't practice as much. But yeah.

So if a deer is 45, and you got the heart lung, 10, 12, and then the 8. And you judge it at 45, how would you shoot that? Okay. To get the top of the 12, give you a chance. But yeah, tell me about that. Okay, so 12 rings, bottom of the 10. If I think it's 40, and it's obviously situational,

like if I got to hit it to make it or to win, that changes a little bit. But if I'm just like a normal shot in a qualifying round and I'm shooting well, Like say I want to 12 it, but I just want to play a good play. If I think it's 45 and I'm aiming at the lower, if it's 46 and I aim at it, I'm an 8 because I'm going to hit that far under it. So a yard at 40 is about an inch. So if I'm off three yards, that's a big miss.

So what I do, since the 12 is in the bottom, I play that rise game. So if I think it's 45, I'll probably shoot it for 46, something like that, aim at the lower. And if it's 6, I'll 12 it. If it's five, I might clip the top of it, but I'll be a 10. If it's four, I'll be a 10. So I try to give myself a window of yardages that it could be. Like the closest it could be is three. The furthest it could be is six.

So let's shoot it for just a good play at the lower, protect the 10 ring, not give any back. If I had to hit it, I'm just going to roll. And it was kind of Dan McCarthy told me this other day, which is a good way to look at it. He's like, if I have to hit it to win, I'm shooting it like it's a 14 because the 14 is up in the 8 and 5. There's no safe play.

Right. And so he's like, all I see is the 12th when I have to hit it. So there's no guarding tens. There's no, because you subconsciously do that. So that's a good way to look at it. You know, I would just shoot it for straight what I think it's going to take to hit it. If I miss, I had to hit it anyway, right? Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, that's interesting. it's and so for judging how do you judge i mean what's your strategy for judging yards because if people don't know i mean you see a target out there at 45 yards you say you can be basically one yard off and that's an inch and that 12 is how big is that 12 maybe an inch and a half yeah yeah so i mean people don't know who don't aren't archers but judging yardage to the yard at you know half a football field not easy not easy so how do you do it yeah that's that's a lot of you do it yeah that's That's kind of the art too to what we do. We have to be great shots, but we also have to judge great and make good decisions, is what

I tell people. Yeah. But how I judge is, you know, growing up, all I had was a deer tariff or a bedded buck target and a bag target in my front yard where I didn't have a range, you know, everybody thought I was just blessed with this 40 target, pristine range. Must be nice. Must be nice, yeah. Yeah.

But I wasn't. I had a bag target that was shot up. And my dad would get old rags from a clothing place and stuff it and chicken mash and, you know. But it sat at 30 yards in my yard. And so I would shoot that all day as a kid. And so still to this day, I can find 30 yards. Like I call it my absolute. And so that's what I really rely on pretty heavy is no matter the situation, I'm like, I can find 30.

I just close my eyes and then I'll take all the trees away, take everything away. way just me and a target and I'm like where would my butted buck be in the yard as a kid and it's like boom right there that's 30 you visualize that visualize that yeah hey guys you want to be as smart as famed neuroscientist andrew huberman phd at stanford well sadly that's probably not going to happen but i did find something that can help and that's hvm in ketone IQ i actually down one right before reading this so if i sound decent it's probably why because i'm not sure if you guys realize how brain power podcasting takes, but whatever I can take that will at least make me sound smarter, I'm in. Ketone IQ is a clean energy boost without sugar or caffeine. Ketone IQ increases your

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as all I've really used. And if you can't find what you're hunting, it's going to be tough to kill. So loophole optics has really played an integral part in my success these last few years. Thank you, Lou Pold, for supporting the podcast. From there, it's depth perception. I'm listening to my competitor's arrows

because we're all shooting about the same speed. And so from the time the bowfires to the time it takes to hit the target is the same for most of us at 40, 45, 50. And so if you know what that sounds like, and you're not up first, you're listening to arrows. And so I'm going, like maybe I'm thinking I'm looking at it, maybe 42, 43, and they shoot. And I'm like, oh, that sounds more like 45, 46. So it just keeps me from making huge mistakes like that.

And then I'm looking, you know, I'm taking grounds of 30, then I'm walking it back to the target. And you just use everything around you. Arrow holes in the target. What are other people doing? Tendencies you look and everybody. shooting this thing high, it must look further than it is. Yeah. So you just use everything around you to make a good decision.

It's not like this. Everybody thinks I just walk up and go, oh, that's 49 and a half. And I'm like, no. Yeah. I'm like, could be 46, could be 50. Now let's use everything I can see and here and find to narrow that window and make a great decision here. And that's more how we judge distance.

Some days that it's really clicking, you look at it and it's like, boom. It's just coming to you. But those days aren't. And is there shooters that you're with that you know if they hit a touch high, you trust, you know what they're probably thinking, and so then you take a yard off? Yeah, you're dead on. And there's not many, but there are a few, like McCarthy and some of these guys I know are making incredible shots.

And we think a lot of like. And so in those moments, like they'll shoot a five or something's crazy. And I'm like, okay, what am I not seeing? You know, instantly I go there. But some of, a lot of the guys, you know, you try, because I've been, I've been burned by that too. It's like, okay, must be way further. And then boom, you go the other way. You know, like I had it the whole time.

Yeah. But some of the guys for sure, I'm like, if they hit bad, I'm instantly like, okay. Because obviously something looks throwing them off. They can't. There's a ditch they can't see or, you know, the lighting. Because like a bright target looks way closer. sun hit like if you're in a dark tunnel but the sun's hitting the target it's like boom i can see so much detail your subconscious perceives that as it must be closer and so you have to like that

when i was saying my rookie offseason i was taking all these notes is what i was learning about myself like oh the target was bright i underjudged every one of those by two yards so now i've learned that if that's the case i'm like i need to add because it's i'm perceiving it as closer than it is right? And so all those tiny little details are why not many people are trying to learn how to judge yardage now. So yeah, it's a, you know, I had a few shots today that I was asking you about. I mean, that's little elk that we shot at, we saw a bunch of holes in the log above it and broken arrows. And maybe it's because of the size of the target. It looks like a bull elk, but it's tiny. Yeah. For sure. And if they're judging that, yeah. Most people are going to shooting that log above it.

Yeah, definitely. And then there was another one, what I had been dying to ask you, about but it's a downhill at the anelope at 100 yards and the sun is always coming in from right to left and I was always always hitting to the left and then you said that it's probably the way that sun is hitting that peep or the lights hitting that peep and it's making it giving it like it's twisted almost and so you're shooting off a little bit right and I had never thought about that so I'd been dying to ask you some of that stuff because on some of these shots I just kept consistently being two inches off three inches off but yeah we see that a lot. You know, it's little bitty things and people just kind of chalk it up to I must have made a bad

shot, but a lot of times, you know, and today it was a good test because there was no wind. And so if that's the case and all of a sudden you turn a corner and start shooting left or right, normally it's the way that lights refracting off your peep and your housing. And so you're not centering it the same as you normally do. And it's throwing it off left and right. But I mean, we've dealt with that at tournaments because we have to turn corners. Like we shoot down one side, a corner and every time we do that we're all like please be in the middle you know and you fire good one sometimes it is and sometimes if that sun's hitting you hard and you see us a lot of times with umbrellas yeah like for shade and that's what we're trying to avoid i saw people talking shit about

you for that before dude it's like oh i could shoot good too if i had an umbrella holder all the time like man it's it's uh but yeah we um might be a little pre-madonnaish but we are holding umbrellas sometimes shading just to kind of guard against that yeah so yeah it's uh it's it's it's funny i mean we got a lot of shit talkers out there you know yeah but you put yourself out there and i guess that's the that's the that's the way it goes um but yeah i mean it's i mean it's fascinating hearing these stories about the tournaments just because it's it's you know i've shot a bow for my you know for 35 years now but i've that's a different world than what i do you know i'm i'm i'm just a hunter, but I love that hunting is your passion also.

You just have this incredible talent to be the best in the world at shooting a bow. And it's crazy to, I mean, the life you've created, the brand you've made with Levi Morgan. And I see what you've built, you know, with your family, with your home, with, you know, like I said, the brand of Levi Morgan. And it's like, I mean, I love it. It's inspiring to me. Because to see somebody to take a passion like that you have and turn it into this, it's a giant thing, really, because I don't imagine you could ever have envisioned this. No, no.

Like if you'd have told me, if you could have let like 10-year-old Levi see into the future, I would have passed out, you know, because it was like, I just shot a boat because I loved it. Yeah. I just happened to be, like, do it a lot. Love it so much that I just was obsessed with it and did it and wanted to learn every little piece of it. And so, yeah, I've been, like, incredibly blessed. And I think people that are good at what they do can never be really satisfied. And they're just like, ah, it's not good enough.

It's not good enough. And so I also have a little bit of that, which I feel guilty about sometimes because I'm like, God, you've given me way more than I deserve. You know, and it's not that I don't think I'm getting what I deserve. It's just, like, I can do better, you know, that kind of thing. But no, like, what we've been able to do and, what God's allowed me to do is like above and beyond what, you know, I could have ever expected as a kid or even, even 10 years ago, you know. Yeah.

I remember the first year we, I won $100,000 shooting a bow. I was like, this is insane to me, you know, that you can do this with this. Seems crazy. And it was, it was, but it's kind of been, and you and guys like you have kind of paved that way and showed that it's, it's, there's no limits, you know what I'm saying? saying you just if you're willing to do things that nobody else is willing to do and just grind and go and be positive and just crush things and that's kind of the mentality I've taken to this game is just like how long can we do it you know and I don't know that might be the last world championship

jersey leave I ever had yeah well I have it now yeah you have it now so but it's not getting them back but uh yeah so I was curious about this too because I see I see, you know, I see you with the big checks, right? I mean, hunting doesn't have that in it. No. And it shouldn't really. But to me, it feels different. But, you know, if somebody knew what you made, it's, you know, we're not going to, I don't know, I don't know if you want to say it, but I'm not going to.

But I'm going to say it's like a, almost like a professional athlete type contract, right? How much of that money would you say is because of what you do on the target range or what you do hunting? What's more valuable to these sponsors? You know, it's kind of weird now because it's almost like if I went another one next year, and we kind of talked about that, it doesn't feel like it's going to change a lot, but I do feel like the credibility that I have created, I think.

I don't even know that's kind of a weird way to put it, but with the tournament side of things, the longevity there has really allowed me to establish relationships with companies. So I would say that it's probably, heavier towards the shooting side but pretty close because the hunting brand that I wanted to build has and you know kind of Levi I don't want to talk about myself a third person because that's weird but my side on hunting has grown a lot and that's because that's what I love you know and like I'd survive tournament season now to get the hunting season yeah right and it's a job

tournaments are a job because of the expectation. But I would say that the money we make is split pretty close. Is it? Yeah. And now it's more of a brand of like who we are and like what we do every day. And so I think I don't know what it would look like if I walked away from tournaments, to be honest. Yeah. You know?

Yeah. You know, and there is no formula for this. Right. You know, I mean, what you do is different than what I do. But from the outside end, people say, oh, well, they're successful archers. essentially. But it's like night and day different. Yeah, it's shooting a bow and arrow. So I was

just curious about that because I think what I take away from it is there is no blueprint. It's like you go out there as when I think of Levi Morgan, I'm like, this is an outlier somebody who's doing things that's never been done. That's valuable.

Yeah. That's valuable to whoever he's associated with. So I see it as yeah, I was just, I was just curious about your perspective on that. Yeah, I would love to, I want to start transitioning more and do, like, you've been very good at how you built your brand. And like people love and follow and want to see what you're doing every day. And so like we have started to kind of move into that digital space too, because what I've done for so long has just been grinded out, right? It's like we had our hunting show.

Micah kind of handled all that, my brother. And I just went hunting. He followed me around. He did filming production, everything, companies we worked with were there. And then I just grinded it out in tournaments, shooting 15 to 18 majors a year, just grinding. And so I'd done that for so long and poured my life into it that now I'm like, I think we need to go kind of more towards like, let's let people more into our lives. And so we have, we're getting ready to launch a brand that's more along those lines of just like the podcast world and doing a lot more YouTube. stuff and teaching people how to do, how to shoot and how to be better at this thing that I love

and then I've learned my whole life. And so that's going to be fun and interesting and we're going to have to learn a lot, but we're excited to kind of go down that road. Yeah, I mean, I think you're set up perfectly forward because what other Archer has the, the accolades you do? Yeah. There is none. Yeah, I mean, I don't want to say it.

I mean, there's some people who pretend like they do. There is a couple of those for sure. But, yeah, and especially in the 3D world. I mean, I don't do the FEDA a lot, the World Cup stuff overseas. But there's some incredible archers in the world. But, yeah, I've been very blessed to win probably more than anybody, I guess, in the 3D side of it. Yeah. And so, yeah, I don't want to just waste that.

No. You know. People want to learn. Yeah. And what I'm fascinated about is your mindset, because those details you talk about and that the strategy and it's like that you know i think we're and i mean we put on a little dog and pony show at the bow rack today and everyone wants to see you shoot right and uh of course at 40 yards on on wayne's range there at the bow rack

you shot incredible but uh he was talking about you know your tuning and you said that you your tuning strategy was different than most people so i just think that with this brand and And like your success and the longevity of being on top, it's like to me, yeah, you've won 14. If you win 18, that doesn't do much. You know what I mean? But if you had four years of letting people into your mind and your mindset of how to get to the top. Right. That's valuable.

That's like, you know, like this lift, run, shoot thing. We did this little Levi Morgan experience you could do and have people in. spend time with them or the podcast. I love to look at your podcast, the clips you showed me. And it's, I want to hear more about your, that, that vision you have for that. What's that called? Yeah, so it's kind of a funny story. Like, I got this nickname back in my early 20s called the Manimal.

And I always just laughed at it, you know, but then I'm like, I would never call myself the Manor, right? But it would, and I even where a Greg Poole guy, we both know, sent me this custom quiver, angel quiver. He's awesome. He sent me this custom quiver that says the manimal I still have. I have it hanging in my podcast room.

But I never really thought much about it. But he called me that because of just the way I attacked those tournaments and just when I lost all breaks and it was just like all I could see was one thing. And it was just attacking that moment and I never got crushed by those heavy moments because I expected to be there, I think.

Yeah. And I prepared. for it. And so, like, I wasn't trying to guard second or third place. So I never, once I, when I was in third, I wasn't nervous or second I wasn't nervous. I was just one thing on my mind. And so, and I'm like now, I'm like, okay, that was kind of a mindset thing all those years. And I'm very intrigued by like, you're the way you do things and the keep hammering stuff and just that mental toughness. And my dad was an unbelievable coach at that as a young age. And he really just, then it was kind of miserable as a kid, some of the things.

I had to go through shooting, but it really prepared me for those moments just to be strong mentally, and nothing was getting in my head. And it's almost like this idea, and I tell my kid, too, now, of, because he plays baseball and he's good at it, but I'm working more of, he's getting ready to turn 11, but I'm working more with him on the mental side than anything, because I'm like, if you can't handle it here, you're never going to do anything, right? And I've seen so many talent that people get crushed because they can't have no mental strength. And so I'm like, you've got to have the to that and you can't let anybody else in there like you own that and so like this manimal name had kind of turned into this brand that we're creating called manimal mindset which is the name of the

podcast and really what i want to do is just learn and dig and compare and see other guys and girls that have just crushed at what they do and just are the best at what they do and how they handle those big moments and there's a lot of similarities that we're finding mentally right that that I think people can learn a ton from, and no matter what they do, being a dad, being in relationships, sports, at work, whatever it is they do. It's a lot of similarities of how to attack life and how to attack moments that would be really heavy otherwise

and how to stand there when everybody else is going away and just totally kill what you're trying to do. And that's kind of the idea behind animal mindset. It'll be, you know, the Levi Morgan brand, LeviMorgan.com, Animal Mindset.com, all the same place. So we want to do apparel, podcast, a lot of learning stuff, teach people from, teach people from the mental side to technical archery, but also let them into our hunting side because we laugh and have fun.

It's not all, you know, be a beast and kill it, you know. It's like, let's go laugh and have a, we laughed a ton today. Yeah, we did. You know, and that's what I love. I mean, I love every part. We're very blessed to do what we get to do. Well, I said that today, too. It's like, we, you know, there's some frustrations in what we do.

I mean, there always is because, you know, everybody's got an opinion on it. And so, yeah, I can get whatever. But at the end of the day, I did say, I go, can you believe what we're doing that this is work? Yeah. We're getting paid for this? Yeah. Seems crazy. It does seem crazy, man.

It was a really cool day for me because I've watched and, and, And I've just been like that. That's a cool thing. And today, I think it hit me about halfway up, Pisga. I was gassed that I was trying to tell stories so we could walk. But I just, it was raining and it was just foggy and it was everything I had hoped. Like, it was tough. But we get to that top and I've watched you jump up on that so many times.

It was cool to do that. It was just a really cool day for me. But I think I was grateful for moments like today, you know. And it's easy. to get frustrated and especially when you're so passionate about hunting or whatever it is you do and there's things that like if you don't if you're not careful you can get stuck in this just being mad all the time yeah feel like the world just doesn't appreciate anything but it you know i've always been able i feel like god's always kind of brought me back down and been like hey like it's pretty

awesome it's a pretty awesome day huh you know yeah i mean i you know i'm i've got the i don't know if anybody they could have a bigger chip on their shoulder than I do. But that being said, today, I did say when we were watching you shoot, I told Wayne, I said, can you believe we got the best shooter in the world in the bell rack? And so to me, it felt a little bit surreal that we go walking in there. And, you know, Wayne has that old picture or old poster up of all these, like, legendary shooters. And he's always referencing it. And then we have the greatest of all time standing there shooting.

And, you know, I've been going to the bow rack since I showed you that license I bought in 1989, my first elk tag, from the bow rack. Yeah. 89. That was a while ago. Yeah. I've been going to the bow rack for that long, right? That place is awesome.

And but to see the greatest to ever do it in there, and Wayne still owns a bow rack, I'm still doing what I do, but we have you there. And it's like it's kind of a, you know, I don't know, you know, we're acknowledging the past with that poster. Who was on the poster? Do you remember? Yeah, I know. I remember. No, it was Nathan Brooks, Eric Griggs, Bobby Catcher. And I don't know.

I can't remember the other one. And they're going to hate me for that. But it was the old PSC poster, I think. But it was it? Or Hoyt, was it? Maybe it was a Hoyt poster. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe it was a Hoyt poster.

Yeah, yeah. But it was like this old school poster. And we were talking about Nathan Brooks today. And Wayne was like, I love watching him shoot. And I was like, still my all-time favorite guy to watch because of how easy it. it is for him. And it's funny that he references that boaster all this time. Almost every guest we've had, he'll like say, look at these guys. Yeah. And but so to me, you know, yeah, I'm old, you know,

kind of cranky sometimes, but I don't, I can't lose sight of the fact that, you know, of the moment, what the moment meant. And, you know, as a bow hunter and an archer and, you know, The bow rack is, that was like my local bar. You know, instead of going to the bar, I'd go to the bow rack and sit there and BS and tell stories and shoot bows and shoot techno hunt and, you know, and shoot for pop, you know, or a dollar, you know, best arrow. It's like what I've done my whole life. So it was pretty crazy to have, like I said, the greatest of all time in there.

Yeah, I don't know. Insane. Yeah, it was a cool experience for me too. Like Wayne's a legend in my mind, you know. And so I've watched all this stuff. Like when I was going to Kodiak to Deer Hunt, I'm watching Wayne's videos. You know, like how does he do this with the decoys and stuff? So it was cool to meet all them and just kind of be a part of that today.

I mean, that shop is like awesome. I mean, how lucky to have a shop like that this close. Mile from my house. I mean, my gosh. It's just destiny. Yeah, it is because, you know, I was, those guys are so good at working on bows. And people say, well, what, you know, how come you don't work? work on your own bow.

I'm like, why? Yeah. These guys do it every day all day. I mean, no. And that's one reason I've been as sick. You know, some guys have to overcome their bow first. And I, my bow is performing at its best. So I don't have to overcome that before I can kill something.

You know, it's set up right. Because there's guys who, oh, by the exact same setup I have right here or that you have exactly, everything exactly the same. And it won't shoot for anything because it's not set up correctly or it's not tuned right or it's not tuned right. whatever. So that's a huge advantage right there. For sure. And a lot of guys are two, three hours from the closest shop. And it may not even be a good one. Yeah. You know, and so the knowledge Wayne has there is like he probably doesn't even think about it. He's building these

bows and sending them out. But it's like, man, somebody that didn't know that, that went and watched YouTube, it would take them weeks to try to fine-tune that stuff. So it is a big hurdle for some guys that just don't have that ability to go to a great shop. And I always, I am a big fan of people knowing their equipment, like especially what you do and I do and we're in the middle of nowhere. And something goes wrong. I think it's important to know that. But yeah, you're lucky to have that right here for sure.

Yeah, no, I know when my bow is something is a little bit funky. And I can definitely tell because I shoot it so much. And I had a little thing before that Idaho hunt. I just did, or my string stretched a little bit, and I started hitting just like an inch or too low, and I was like, I know something's out, and the cams are out of time. And, you know, so whatever, so we go down there and fix it, and it's shooting perfect right after that. But so being familiar with your equipment definitely helps. Did you have a good pro shot back where you were? We had, uh, we had Shook's archery, um, which is not, not around anymore. Um, he owned, uh,

trying to think yeah it was another range there Kathy's Creek archery that I went to it was closer to my house which was another one I shot at all the time a good pro shop and some of my long friends still this day worked there but I had and my dad worked on my stuff taught me a lot but a guy named Scott Cope really kind of took me under his wing my rookie year because I didn't know how to do anything but shoot a bow well then like I still had people building my stuff and helping me. But Scott really took me and taught me how to build arrows, how to tune things, why a bow did what it did. And he worked at a shop, and he was a very good shooter himself. But yeah, Scott was the guy that really kind of took me under. And then we had another shop where we shot Winter Leagues.

It was like an hour away called Jim Harts and some of my best memories there. And shooting the winter leagues as a kid with Johnny Heath and Stanley and Darlo and some legends. I was lucky to grow up with legends. You know, Johnny Heath was the first guy ever to win 100 grand than a year shooting a bow

and he was from my hometown. And Stanley and Darley Owen are legends and they're from my hometown. Like they work at the local tire shop in my hometown. So it was cool and I got to be around great, greats my whole life.

You know, Johnny used to take me to shoots every weekend and I'm six, seven years old. Wow. If my dad couldn't go, Johnny's picking me up and I'm learning from the best in the world

at the time. He was shooting against Homer and Hopkins and beating them, you know. And so he taught me a lot of mental toughness because he talked trash to a six-year-old, believe it or not. But I was lucky in that regard for sure. Yeah. Well, it's the same with me.

You know, I mean, with Wayne being growing up together with Wayne and Roy, who, Roy was the best hunter and woodsman I've ever been around and the toughest guy I've ever been around. So sometimes, you know, fate deals us a favorable hand. and we've got good hole cards and then what you do with them is I guess up to you but you know some of it is just a good lucky break and we we definitely are lucky

to find something that we love in archery and bow hunting I mean with your brand and you're hunting what are your goals I mean what's your hunting goals well so about eight years ago I started this like

I wanted to be the youngest to ever do the super slam with a bow. And that was right when I had like broke the shooter of the year record. Because that was a tough transition for me too. You like set this giant goal. And it's almost a little bit of a depression when you reach it. Because you're like, man, I've been training for. Now what?

For eight years for that. And it's like it's over. And so I was like instantly, Samantha was like, no, no, no, not any more goals. And I was like, I'm going to be the youngest to ever do the super slam with a bow. And so I just went on a war path. Like I was all over North America, sheep hunting, you know, mountain goats and musk ox and everything I could find, Buffalo Moose. And I was killing it and found out about this kid named Lincoln Tap, who was like 16 and had like six left. And I'm like, oh, you're kidding me.

And about that time, we started, we had our second, third kid and then fourth here recently. And so that's kind of got put on a back burner and I've got like five left. And Lincoln since then did the super slam by like 18 with a bow. And it was just like, wow. But I really would like to finish that. Don't know when. I got one caribou left, one sheep, one moose, one elk. And so I just need to wrap that up because it's always in the back on mine.

I'm like leaving things unfinished. No, I understand. Yeah. Yeah. It's what's been the, I mean, what hunt do you look forward to the most nowadays? Um, with my, my kids. Yeah. I love hunting with my kids.

Like, I love to hunt, but I, my son, my oldest, Lannon killed his first buck with a compound last year at 10. And I got the, I was just, I thought I loved hunting before that. And so, like, I look forward. I just hope he loves it. And we can do it together. Right. You know, but me personally hunting, I think, um, I got to get back grizzly hunting. Yeah.

That was like, man, that was like. like all-time, I think, favorite. You killed a grizzly? Yeah, killed a grizzly. Yeah, where were you? In Alaska. We flew into Uniloclete. Yeah.

And we hunted off boats on the Bering Sea there and glassed beaches. And gosh, it was just an experience. What was a hunt? We camped. We were camping on the beach, and it was like daylight pretty much the whole time. Like, it didn't get really dark. So we would go out hunting at like seven in the afternoon and hunt all night. And then come back in the morning.

and because it never got dark. Right. It would just get dusk almost. Yeah. And so we're like putting out crab pods when we go out. And then when we come back in from hunting, we're pulling them up, these crabs. We're robbing these islands of seagull eggs and sea ducks. And we're making these crab omelets for breakfast on the side of the sea,

taking a nap in a tent, hunting grizzlies, and stalking into 20 years. I mean, it was the most unbelievable week. And I've just, ever since I did it, me and Micah were up there just like sitting on the ocean watching the waves come in like whales breaching out. And it was just like, are you kidding me? Like we get to be here right now. Right. And we seen like 35 grizzlies in seven days. It was just an unbelievable experience.

And I've wanted to get back ever since. What was, I mean, would you kill? I shot a decent grizzly. But it was one of those deals where, and those guys, John Wilson was. the guy that was with me and his son. It was one of those deals where they got charged the week before and had a real sketchy situation. And so it was one of those deals were like,

when I shoot and they're, because I'm hunting with a bow and they're like, hey, you just be honest with me. If you're not comfortable with it, we're putting them down with a gun. Yeah. Which negates it for the Super Slam. Yeah. It doesn't count for me.

It's my bear, but it doesn't count for that stuff. And so I'm like, man, I really want to do this right. So it was like day seven. and I passed a ton of bears because he's like, we can do better. Yeah. We can do better. And I'm like, that one's fine. We can do better.

I'm like, all right. Yeah, I don't know bears. Yeah. And so finally, this big bear's coming down the beach and I'm like 20 yards off the water and he's between me and the water. So it's going to be like 10 yards, you know, and I'm like, gosh, this is so awesome. My heart's beating out of my chest. He's a grizzly walking at me.

We never show. It's like we're around this little rock. He doesn't come. So I peek up. He's walking the other way. And so I'm trying to. arrange him and I the grass is blowing in the wind and it's telling me he's 12 yards he's obviously way further than that so I just kind of guessed at the distance and I was like 40 looks 40 yards so I put

my 40 in him and he was like 35 so when I hit him I hit him right through the top of the lungs but to me in my mind I was like that looked high and John's like where'd you hit him I said high and instantly when he's you know it's over and I'm like oh it was like and because I'm like second guessing Yeah. Was it high? But once you touch those animals, it's yours. I didn't want him to run off and never get him. Right.

And so we got up to him. Ended up, I had hit him like top lungs. Wouldn't win anywhere. Yeah. Yeah. It was like at that moment I was kind of mad, but at the same time, very thankful to be there. Yeah. And have had that experience.

But knew I was like, that's a good excuse to come back. Yeah. Yeah. I understand that. Yeah. Well, no, you definitely need to get back in there. Yeah, make that. There is nothing like, I mean,

And I love those big bear. Yeah. I love big. I love for whatever reason the buff, you know, Cape Buffalo, water buffalo, grizzly, brown bear. I love that stuff. It's like something that can kill you back. I love it. I mean, it feels like you just got to be so like in a higher, I don't know, just be at your very best to get it done.

And there's something beautiful about that. For sure. It was like a seven-day adrenaline rush. Mm-hmm. where like elk is its own beast and it's so much fun white-tailed same sheep is like the coolest country very technical hunt but that grizzly or something that can kill you and will kill you it's like you have you can't let your guard down at any time and and like your life depends upon it and it was uh i loved it though it was just like that feeling every day you're on that boat you spot one and you're getting off the boat and it's like hand-to-hand combat with this thing yeah no it sounds amazing Yeah. Have you done that? I've done grizzly. Okay.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a, but similar type of thing. Yeah. I mean, I don't want to, you know, it's crazy. It's like if somebody heard these two stories, they might, my story and your story, they might think, well, is a bow the best weapon to kill grizzly then?

Because we both had it a little bit tainted with the rifle. Yeah. And, no, a bow is, I think, the most lethal way. Yeah. Because many times animal, they don't even know what happened, right? So it's, it's a, it's, you know, if there's a, you know, if there's a, you know, a beautiful death, you know, that'd be a weird way to term it. But it feels like it to me because it's not like the damage and the shock and the noise

and the frantic, whatever, and the animal knows something happened because many times they don't know. The arrow, you know, if you cut yourself, sometimes you don't even feel the cut. And then you just look like you cut your leg on that one hunt. And it's like you don't feel the pain. So that's kind of what an arrow is like going through these animals. They don't really, it's just like you cut yourself something super sharp. don't necessarily feel it, but they don't feel it.

All of a sudden, they lose blood pressure. They pass out their dead. So to me, that's the perfect death if something's going to die, right? So, yeah, I think archery is, you know, definitely can get the job done on these animals. Yeah, we've had, you know, grizzlies its own special beast because even on my hunt, the year prior, one of the guys got torn up by a wounded grizzly. So that makes, you know, that's in the back of everybody's head. And just like your situation, they had it the week before.

But yeah, I don't want anybody to think that an arrow can't get it done because I've seen arrows kill animals, giant animals. I've killed, you know, that bear right there was a giant brown bear. It was down in seconds after one perfect arrow. Oh, I think it's a way more lethal way. You know, like my moose have all died within seconds. And they're giant animals. It's just, I think what the deal is, it's like, hey, everybody's life's at stake here.

So if it's not absolutely perfect, double lung, top of the heart type shot, these guys are putting it down. Yeah. Because nobody wants to have that call on a sat phone and sitting there bleeding the death on the beach, right? Right. But, I mean, I've watched shoot deer and everything. The arrow blows through them so fast and they just hop over there, like look around. They have no idea what happened. They're obviously not in pain.

And then all of a sudden they just fall over. Right. Or with a gun. Everybody knows what happened. I mean, it's not a very easy thing to be a part of sometimes because it's like shock and loud and the animal's freaking out. Yeah. So archery is way more intimate and silent. Me and Micah had like a little experience last year.

We both kind of looked at each other like that was the most insane thing ever. It was in Nebraska and the real quiet morning on a creek bottom and this buck just big old velvet tin comes walking up out of the sand. And the arrow when I shot him, it was the quietest like. he didn't hear it, we didn't hardly hear it, the arrow blew through him stuck in the sand, and it was like just this slow death of like, me and Michael were like, nothing around us even knew we were there. The deer were still feeding around us. And it's just a way cooler experience.

And I mean, if you, and nature is brutal. Yeah. These animals are going to die. Right. Right. And it's the best, in my opinion, shooting an old, mature animal before he suffers and starves the death because he doesn't have teeth. in my opinion it is the way to do it because then we get to honor that animal and share him and eat him and you know we get to tell stories about him forever and instead of him rotten in a ditch somewhere and coyotes eating him alive right because i've watched that yeah you know and people want to think it's like the you know these bugs have families and they go back to their little bambies and it's not the way nature works you know it's brutal yeah no i agree i i uh yeah i mean

And hunting is, no matter how you do it, there's, it's not perfect all the time. No. And death sometimes goes, it's, you know, life and death and things want to live. And, you know, sometimes it's a struggle. Yeah. But many times with that perfect arrow, it's not. Yeah. It's just over.

And that's what we strive for. So when you compare your tournaments to hunting, Tell me about the difference between those two Because there's huge challenges in both Right Where do you see the difference? So I guess in that final moment They're very similar in how you handle that

I think and very different Yeah, the pressure The difference for me is in a tournament It's a controlled environment I know the time I have on the clock We're still time But I know the time Like I know I have this much

The target's not going anywhere you know it's not looking at me so inside I'm not rushing you know it's a system of I can I know what I have time to do glass pick my spot fix my footing make a good shot and mentally prepare for that hunting can be everything you can have that or like we talked about today a buck can stand up out of his bed and look at you and you got eight seconds to make it happen and so in those moments when everything inside of you is screaming for you to hurry I think where it's where a lot of lot of people screw up. And so that's kind of how they're different for me is like hunting you just faced with

so many different scenarios, frantic things that make you almost your chances of success go way down in those moments because, I mean, of course, everybody wants the 20-yard shot broadside him looking the other way and feeding, right? Just doesn't happen a lot in bow hunting. And so you have to be able to adapt to a lot. lot of different situations in bow hunting where I think in the tournament world I know the situations I could be put in out there you know the wind could be blowing yeah but I still have time to figure out where my aim needs to be and all that stuff where I think they're similar is

when you hit full draw and it's time to execute a perfect shot and everything is riding on that arrow and I think that's where tournaments have taught me a ton where I've learned and failed so many times in those moments and I feel like what I've always tried to do is you can't replicate that feeling when your heart rates up and you're just a you're nervous and you know if you don't make a good shot like what's riding on that could be an animal of a lifetime could be a world championship like that feeling you can't replicate there's no way to practice it and so for me the only time I ever had time to learn we're in those moments in my mind it's like when I'm here even

if I'm sucking right now. Like if I feel like I can't win, let's learn. Like how, what can I do different to make this moment easier? Or make this moment where I can come out on top next time. Yeah. And so in the tournament world, I've learned what I do wrong in those moments. When I start to feel that panic inside, like my pen's not sitting still. And, I mean, just brutal truth.

When you're nervous and your heart rates up, your pen is like, you know, and you have to learn to execute through that and make a good shot. And so that's where it's very similar. When I pull back on a giant bull, he just screamed in my face. And I, you know, I know I've got five seconds to make a perfect shot or it's all over and I won't get another opportunity. It's very similar in that aspect of how you execute in that moment. Yeah. Yeah, that's interesting.

So what do you, I know what I focus on, but when you think of hunting, or your tournaments, do you think of those money shots you've made or the ones you've screwed up? Oh, no, the ones I've screwed up. Me too. Yeah. I think we talked about one of my screw ups today more than anything. I was showing you pictures and I'm like, but that's the ones that's always eat at me, you know. And I've even, I think we said that earlier.

It's like winning used to be this huge high. Yeah. You know, early when I was trying to make a name and I was still trying to prove to myself even that I had what it took. it was this huge high that didn't go away for days. And now it's not that way anymore. It's still a great feeling to come out on top. But losing and like doing something stupid that causes you to fail still hurts

just as bad as it ever did. Yeah. And so I remember those shots. Yeah. You know, the ones that I'm like, oh, that costs me big time. And I should, that could have been prevented. Yeah. Even hunting, shooting tournaments.

It's the ones that. But I think it's a good thing. because you learn and you remember what you did and how you failed there. And like, you don't want to feel that again. Yeah, I wonder if there's something because I, so it's weird because we think about when we failed.

Mm-hmm. And how bad it hurt. Right. Just like when I look through comments on the pay, I don't, oh, good job. Great. Love what you do. Love what?

You know, this hate one. Yeah. That's the one. So why are we drawn to the, why are we fueled by this negativity? or this fail, does it make you just want to work harder? So you don't, because you don't want to feel that again, I wonder?

Yeah, maybe. You know, it's funny because everybody's always like, you got to forget about the mistake and move on. Yeah. And I'm like, once I figured out I couldn't, I realized like, no, I just got to figure out how to go, I made a mistake, but still keep the confidence to go next time, I'm going to crush them, you know?

And I think that's what, and like doing the podcast, at home and talking to some of these guys about that, that's really the difference. It's not that they go, I can totally forget that I struck out the last time, or the last four at bats. It's the fact that I can still have the confidence to know I've put in the work to walk up here and I'm going to hit a home run this time. You know, and so I think that's been more of the difference. I don't know why we're drawn to that because I'm the same way. So some things I've quit trying to figure out and I just accepted that. Just the way it goes. Yeah. I'm going to remember the bad ones. Yeah. But I still want to be able to be like I'm going to get

the next one. Yeah. So. Yeah, I just know that, have that confidence that you put in the work. Yeah. Yeah. I may have failed this time, but that's not going to define me. Yeah. Yeah. It's, so in regard to failure, I want to know how can I get to be a better shot? You're great, honest to God, I put it on my Instagram today. I said, for everybody wondering, Cam can shoot, you know, because everybody sees on Instagram, whatever. I mean, you can edit things. You never know what you're going to find, right? But you really have a good I mean, something you've been obsessed with too. You know, when you love something, you're going to be good at it.

And you are. Honestly, man, I know Wayne was kind of giving you a hard time about putting your thumb behind your neck, you know, which I used to do as a kid. All those things and, you know, shooting a trigger. But honestly, man, it's like repetition is key and just coming back tomorrow and doing it again. I think I told you, you know, I got some hate the other day because my kid's shooting. He's drawing high. I thought you were shooting good.

I was like, this kid can shoot. I didn't see any of the, I didn't read any comments. But I saw the video and I was like, God dang. Yeah, he can shoot. I mean, he's got it. But he's already told me like, dad, I'm never shooting tournaments. And I'm like, okay, it's fine. We're just time.

But I'm trying to teach him what I know, you know, as a dad, that's kind of something you want to do, right? Like, this is what I know. I want you to at least know this and have it. And so we're out there. And he's drawing high and settling in. and everybody's like, oh, he's skydrawn. You've got to teach him to stop. And I'm like, no, I don't.

I don't have to do that. He's not shooting tournaments. He's not going to get docked points for sky drawing. And so today, like the one thing I said to watching you shoot, you draw kind of at the target and like raise up, but you said you come above it and then back down. For me, if I don't know that I could do that because I'm trying to set all my muscles as I'm drawing and get that shoulder pushed out and then kind of,

I'm slowly into the target as I come to my click and start the process. Now, hunting, obviously, you get put in so many different scenarios, which is what you do. So, like, our worlds are a little different. Yeah. Tournaments, it's like, yeah, I can do the same thing every time. If a bull's looking at me, I'm not going to be like, you know, I'm going to be like trying to, like, little as movement as possible. So, like, yeah, I mean, obviously drawing at the target is ideal for a hunting scenario,

which is what you do. So I'm not going to tell you you should change that. For me in the tournament world, I need to draw high and settle in because I'm trying to set those. And we're trying to hit something this big, not lungs or a heart. And so, but again, we were talking about form earlier, what's right, what's wrong. I used to think, like, this is the way you got to do it. But then you get beat by guys doing it, what you would say the wrong way, so many times.

Rio Wilde, leaning back, string across the chest, face pressure. I'm like, no way this guy's beat me, and he just throttle you, you know. And like guys with face pressure and anchor in here, you're like, what is this guy? No way. And it just can't miss. Yeah. And you're like, okay, it's more about doing the same thing every time than it is. He's got bad form.

Right. And then punching the trigger. Wrong way to do it. Well, you tell Kyle Douglas or Gillingham or some of those guys that they're incredible at it. I could never do it. I don't have the mind for it. So it's funny, archery is just one of those deals where I don't tell a lot of people are doing it wrong.

You know, I've never been that way because I'm like, if that's the way you want to do it, you just have to be great at that. And I think there's ways that are easier to repeat. And that's archery. If you can repeat it, you can be good at it. Yeah. So I think things make it way harder than it should be. Form problems, you know, too short or draw.

Drawlinked is a big. It's really hard to repeat shot after shot if you're drawing isn't right, stuff like that. But I didn't see anything the day that really I was like, it's really hindering you from being a great shot because you were a great shot, you know. Thank you. Is there anything with, you know, that trigger? I mean, was that, did you notice anything? I wasn't watching trigger finger stuff. I was watching impact, but are you a trigger puncher?

Is that what Wayne says? That's what Dudley says. Well then. Yeah, so it must be true. It must be true. I would say, you know what? Five years ago, I'd say you probably should stop. Now I've been beat.

I'm too old. Yeah, I've been beat by too many people doing it. Oh, okay. And if you can, the main thing is controlling it. Like if you're trying to get above the target, drop in and punch. That's like target panic. that is like debilitate. Like you can't perform like that, right?

To a really high level. But like if you're able to put your pin there and when it gets dead center, you can just touch it off, that's the most accurate way to shoot. And I know like everybody's going to hate me for saying that. But like you watch those guys that are good at doing it, the Kyle Douglas who's the Tim Gillingham at times, Remington Boyers at times, Jimmy Lutz.

Those guys when they are on are unbeatable. The problem is when they're not And their timing is just off You know that's when the hinge guys like me or Justin Hanna's That really wait and just are patient and boom Let it flow let the bow shoot itself Nathan Brooks like we were watching on that post There's like Jesse Broader just easy pure shooters

That's when they take over But in the wind and stuff like that Punchers always win And it's frustrating And I room with a guy named Justin and one of my best friends and we're just like, freaking punchers, man. We're looking at the weather.

It's going to be blowing 20 days. God, freaking punchers are going to win today, man. Yeah. Well, you know, when I miss, I mean, I know where my arrow's hitting where the pin is, right? But when I miss, it's when I don't, and when I'm hunting,

here's what I think of, keep that pin there. Yeah. So if I keep the pin there and punch or do whatever I do, I'm going to hit wherever that was. If I drop or if it's moving or like coming off or do it, it's going to go wherever that ended up. So if I keep the pin there, even like today's shooting,

if the pin was staying there and I hit, that's exactly where an arrow hit. So if I just keep the pin there, that's a key. And I shoot, you know, I shot a thumb button a lot this year. I won the world with a thumb button. So it wasn't a hinge and it's set really, really light. Like you can shake it and it'll fire. And so I shoot it on.

It's not a punch, but it's a controlled shot. I'm not sitting there just waiting, waiting, waiting. But the problem is once my mind, I call it a demon, once that demon crawls up my leg and gets on me, and I have to punch it, then I have to set it down. Like if I draw back and aim and cannot squeeze, cannot execute a good shot, that's when I'm like, nope, because that can get to the point of not,

can't get my pin in the middle, it can turn really bad because I've had target panic to the point where I thought about quitting, you know. And I see a lot of people there. So then I put it down, pick up my hinge, just roll with that weight, patient. You have to be patient with a hinge. But no, I think if you can command the trigger and keep your pin in the middle, it's a very accurate way to shoot.

And the important thing is like you said, burning that pin through the middle, right, and not giving up on it. Because most people, from the time they think punch, their brain thinks it to their finger actually doing it, their pin moves. Yeah. Right? and that's where they're getting that wiggle fire. But if you can burn that pin through that target and touch it off,

it's a deadly way to shoot. Yeah, well. Joel Turner just passed out listening to that. Well, I don't know. If you took away all my trigger punch and kills, this room would be empty. Well, then, I mean, I think that answers the question because there's a bunch of big stuff in here. Yeah, so, I mean, I don't know.

I mean, I hope they still count. Well, I think there's just more ways than wanting to do it. They still count for sure. Well, Levi, I mean, oh my gosh, I'm so pumped. I'm so pumped we spent the day together. I want you, you know, the success you've had is just like, as I said, it's inspiring to me, but I just want you to have more. I want this brand to blow up.

I want people to get into the mindset, the minimal mindset that's taking you to the top. And I want, I just wish nothing but success for you. And I'm so thankful for this gift. I'm thankful for your time. This has been a great day. And, you know, if this trip caps off with you killing a big bull with the born and raised guys here this weekend, then, man, nobody's going to be happier than me. Man, it's been, it's been my pleasure, honestly. I'm a huge fan of what you do, thankful for what you've done for what we both love, bow hunting.

And the day couldn't have went any better, in my opinion. I loved every minute of it and hoped to do it again sometime. All right, guys. We'll follow Levi Morgan, learn from them, and thank you. Keep hammering. Hoyt archery has been my bow hunting sponsor since 2005. And personally, I really don't care what bow you shoot, what brand it is. I just hope that you have the same level of confidence in your equipment as I have in mind. Because I know if I get one opportunity with my Hoyt, it's going to pay off.

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