Had my son out for an afternoon hunt on youth weekend. I still can't believe this happened. Late yesterday afternoon, with the hen and jake decoy set up at about 18 yards, my son sounded off his box call and an eagle dove in and swooped up the hen decoy. I though it was going to crash into our blind. It even glided around our greenfield a couple of times up over the pines with my decoy and metal rod in it's talons!! finally flew off on up the mountain! That's craziest thing I have ever seen! Anyone ever heard of that? We have noticed a couple of eagles around the lake on our property during deer season, but never heard of this. Wingspan looked 6 feet wide. Amazing sight for sure! Now I have to buy another hen decoy!

That is wild and answers a question I had. Last year I was walking and calling trying to find a willing gobbler and every time I would call to big eagles would come in at about 20 feet and you could tell they were looking for the hen. Around that same time I also scared 2 birds that were roosted in the pines at 12:00 and they were about 500 yards from each other. I always wondered if those eagles had the turkey's afraid to come out of the pines.

That's pretty cool actually.

Was duck hunting in Canada on one of those big lakes. We were dropped off on a point by the guide. When we would shoot, the eagles would fly over. A few of our birds flew back with the eagles that day. They are not scared of a shotgun blast. It's their call for dinner.

I know of at least two other people who lost decoys to golden eagles in AL. One guy actually had one hit a gobbler he was calling in, and after the scruffle on the ground, the turkey ran straight to his gun barrel.

That's pretty awesome, turkey huntinG with the aid of a Golden Eagle!

Do we have many golden eagles here, Matt?

I've seen two on Lay lake

I have had a hawk attack a decoy before but never an eagle. That is pretty cool!

I bet that eagle couldn't tote no load of TSS 9's off like that

Not a lot of goldens in the state. Juvenile balds are full grown at ~1yo and sometimes don't get the fully bald plumage til 5+.

There are goldens in AL, quite a few actually. Seemingly getting more.

It's not widely known though.

Had a Greene County local tell us a goodun about 15 years ago. He and a friend shot a gobbler in a field, and another gobbler ran out of the woods, picked it up, and carried it off back in the woods.

We were using a pay phone about 10pm at a run down convenience store. The guy had just walked up the road and came by to chat. I don't think we had what he was out looking for. But I'll never forget that story

Wild! Took my daughter Saturday for our youth hunt, and we had 2 red-tailed hawks come in & circle above us... I've had owls fly in on many a setup; one was HUGE a few years back, and pretty much had marked his territory, so ... We found another place to hunt... What torques my bolts are all the deg'gum coyotes that have busted up setups in the past; seems to be gettin' worse, too...

BGD

Had an owl hit a decoy before and it scared the heck out of me.

Dang those eagles! There will be a bounty on them when I become the Turkey Czar.

They taste better anyway

The biggest commotion I ever heard a flock of turkeys make was caused by a Bald Eagle. A friend and I went deer hunting one afternoon and walked to two greenfields that were only about 200yards apart. I had the shorter walk so I was already in my shooting house when I heard all kinds of commotion. I heard turkey sounds that I couldn't even identify. After our hunt my buddy told me that an eagle had dove right over the flock of turkeys just as he was easing up to the field. He saw the whole thing. Interestingly, he said the birds seemed to run together in a big group after the initial dive bomb had taken place.

He might fly in, but he would limp back!

A little off topic but I had an owl come down and grab a Zara Spook that I was walking across a point at Neely Henry one summer morning at dawn.

I don't use decoys a whole lot but for the times I have used them I've never had anything make a play for them.