My decoy was attacked!!!

[RutnNStrutn]

So I was hunting at my lease in SC yesterday afternoon. I was set up on a grassy trail leading to a roosting area. Crows were carrying on in a nearby field, which is normal. But then they went crazy, getting louder and more raucous, and they were getting closer. I turned to see what all the fuss was about, and was surprised with what I saw.
A large, reddish brown bird of prey was flying down the trail, about 6 feet off the ground, with 2 crows in hot pursuit. The raptor looked like a hawk but was the size of a small eagle. As it approached my decoys, it suddenly dive bombed into them. It flared its wings like air brakes, its underside swung up and razor sharp talons came forward. It crashed into one of my decoys, knocking it off the stake, and landing right beside it. The crows were caught off guard by this sudden maneuver and overflew him. Quickly they did a 180 degree turn, and resumed their harrassment of the big predator. He flew up into a tree but the crows pressed their attack. Finally all 3 of them flew off. When I went to put the deke back on the stake, I discovered 10 puncture wounds and slices in the deke!!! They were all on the front and sides of the neck. I'm certain that if it had been a real hen, the predator would have killed her.
This is the second time I have had one of my decoys attacked by a bird of prey. Years ago in FLA, a bald eagle landed in a tree overlooking my set up. I watched as it eyeballed my decoy. Finally, it silently hopped off the limb, swooped in and snatched my decoy off the stake! It flew about 50 feet up before figuring out it had grabbed a fake, then dropped it and flew away. This decoy also had multiple puncture wounds from being impaled by talons.
Crazy things you see while you are hunting!!

[Mike Honcho]

That's wild, I have never seen that before.   

[JALA Strut]

So cool to see stuff like that!

[TJK68]

Cool story!

[BOB_HARWELL]

 It's a good thing you weren't wearing your little bunny rabbit bedroom shoes.

Bob

[TauntoHawk]

we blame coyotes predation a lot but i'm fairly confident that hawks and eagles do a ton of damage especially to the young in late spring and summer. I know we have a lot of eagles where we hunt near the Hudson and one flying over head is a sure way to get birds to clear a field fast

Never had one attack a decoy that must be neat to witness and a little annoying at the damage left.

[jblackburn]

wow, that's crazy!  Would be cool to see!

[RutnNStrutn]

Yes Bob, it was a good thing!! LOL!!!

Sent from my 1960's rotary phone using Tapatalk

[bigdoc]

VERY COOL!!!

[alloutdoors]

I had an eagle go after a tom I was working once during a youth hunt. The tom was in full strut in a field but I think he saw the shadow because he dropped strut and ducked at the very last second. I'm pretty sure the eagle only missed his head by a few inches. He beat feet for the woods before the eagle could make another pass. I got him fired up again after about thirty minutes and we ended up killing him. He walked around three sides of the field in the woods to get to us though, he wouldn't go back in the open.

[Solid Snake]

That's crazy! It's almost as fun to see that kind of stuff when you're in the woods than what you're hunting for...almost. You gotta love mother nature.

[DirtNap647]

crazy

[Dan Mallia]

I've always wondered about that as I watch hawks circle or hover in the area I'm hunting....... Is he going to dive bomb my dekes or not??

[redarrow]

WOW ! that is too cool. Would love to see that.

[JuniorPre 360]

I'm guessing my inflatables won't last long if this happens regularly haha cool story!