I had a tom working towards me in a cutover this year when out the blue he freaked out like I’ve never seen and took flight, in the next two seconds while I’m scratching my head wondering wtf is going on, and eagle come bombing down from above.
If the tree line was 10yds farther that eagle would have got that gobbler but he luckily made it to safety. That is up until he come back across the cutover to meet the fate of some tss 30 minutes later.
I’m not sure how long these winter populations of eagles stick around before flying back if that's how it works but if they are still here when gobblers start their spring routine strutting around out in the open then they may actually be the most vulnerable ones to eagle predation…..And you know its got to make it even worse if eagles are taking out the dominant gobblers in Feb
