Wild Turkey Hen decoy "killed" by a Bald Eagle in New Jersey

I was turkey hunting New Jersey Friday morning and used a photo-imprinted hen decoy. I set the lone decoy about 15 yards into a plowed field, and I set up on the tree line of the field’s edge. Around 5:45 AM, I saw a bald eagle flying toward me. The eagle passed over me, and I lost site of it. About 30 seconds later, the eagle swooped down and blasted my hen decoy!

I heard the sound of wings, the sound of the bird crashing into the decoy, and the sound of the inflatable decoy popping! I at first thought someone shot the decoy, until I saw the bird standing next to the deflated decoy dumbfounded. After collecting my wits, I tried to photograph the eagle with my iPhone, but all the only photo I managed to get was one of the eagle flying away.

The eagle stood next to the decoy for about 30 seconds, then flew to a nearby tree and screeched for 30 minutes.

I attached some images that show the talon marks (holes) in the decoy.

I am truly impressed with new technology used in decoy manufacturing. If that decoy fooled an eagle’s eyes, it should work very well on wild turkeys!

Tags: delaware hunting, hunting, Hunting The First State, iphone, new jersey, steve kendus, steven kendus, Steven M. Kendus, turkey hunting, turkeys, wild turkey

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 9th, 2010 at 8:35 am and is filed under Hunting The First State, turkey hunting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.