Sometimes hunters become the hunted.

[onpoint]

You get to see a lot of great things while afield.
While hunting birds, came across this sight. Pic quality low - poor early AM light, and a zoomed point and shoot.
I think - best guess - that the raptor clutched in the owls talons is a female marsh hawk. Any other opinions/guesses welcome....
I can picture the marsh hawk (?) dilly dallying around as they do while they lazily fly around low looking for rodents.
And silent death swoops in from above out of some Russian Olive tree..........
Owls are one cool customer.

 

[RobG]

I didn't know...

 

[TheJason]

Cool....

 

[kansasdad]

Cue Sir Elton.......Circle of Life

Unique find onpoint

 

[Sytes]

Great pic of an amazing hunter. Pretty cool little post write-up to boot.

 

[The Hedgehog]

Very cool. I bet the owl got the hawk at night.

I took this pic of a great gray this spring while bear hunting. Also a phone pic.

Highlight of my fall was seeing a golden eagle take down a mule deer fawn. Although I saw about a minute of the attack - they went into a sliver of timber and neither came out. The eagle was latched on and I’m assuming killed the deer.

 

[Slam]

I think Greenhorn is correct. Great Horned owls in my neck of the woods are hard on crows on the roost. Consequently, crows are hard on owls during daylight.

 

[1_pointer]

Very cool pic.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Not sure on the hawks ID, but the owl is definitely a Great Horned Owl, they are pretty well known killers of crows, hawks, waterfowl, grouse, and other owls. One of their only predators is other Great Horned Owls.

That Great Gray is a cool bird, GH.

 

[Mallardsx2]

Owls are serious predators. Thats a fact.

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

 

[Irrelevant]

We always had some big horned pass through my folks property a couple times a year. Super cool birds. I've seen them run off other owls but never kill them. That a nat geo moment for sure.

Since the BHA rende and getting to know the no-lead guys and all the birds of prey they've had at their booth I've taken a ton of interest in our local Kestrel population. Super bass birds. Little fighter jets bombing through the deadfall after everything from grasshoppers to jays.

 

[Hunts]

Don’t underestimate the great horned owl