Called in an unusual predator....

[powderburn]

Took a trip out to try calling in a wolf' or a cougar and ended up calling in the Apex night hunter of the skies. When I first saw it it was half way between my son and the tree's in the back ground. It was about a foot off the ground wings locked out and coming fast. At the fencepole before my son it tilted it's wings up and landed on the pole. I had just taken the video cam off the tripod and put away the cam. I pulled it back out and caught a couple minutes of the stare down that followed. My son said it felt like it was staring right through his soul. All in all a way better day then sitting on the couch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlC9fFtNvzg&feature=c4-overview&list=UUi6ce5CGmaW151HHWPgUunA

 

[noharleyyet]

As cool a pic as I've seen in awhile.

 

[jryoung]

So awesome. The last two years hunting in Montana we have seen a number of Great Gray Owls, they are so cool to watch.

Crappy cell pic, but you get the idea.

 

[Blacktailbc]

Awsome

 

[EODRay]

That's a great story and cool that you have the pic and video to go with it.

 

[Huntfit]

Awesome alright, birds of prey are great to see in the wild.

 

[Hummer]

Neat photo and video! Interesting the bird came to a call in daylight, unusual but more common in winter for a Great Horned Owl.... It was a rabbit distress call, right?

Calling owls is sort of a hobby of mine. I do it by mimicking the owls typical vocalization. During elk season I hear and call in Northern Pygmy Owls more than other owl species. This year I found 3 Pygmies during 2nd season but sometimes I'll find a dozen or more while hunting. Occasionally, Great Horned Owls will come to a Pygmy, Saw-whet or Screech-owl call as they will prey upon the smaller birds.

Incredibly, on three occasions I've had Pygmy Owls come in to where I had just killed an elk and had begun butchering. They come in close and look as though they're assessing whether they can steal the prey. Once I tossed bits of meat for the owl like I would for the Gray Jays but the owl didn't go for it....

Northern Pygmy Owls are ferocious predators of small birds and mammals. Being diurnal they are more likely to be seen during the day. Their body is about the size of my fist:

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

When my son Travis was about 12 I put him up in a Tower Stand on a pipeline, then circled around to walk a cutover alongside of the pipeline. As I walked a haul road in the cutover I rounded a bend and spooked a Bald Eagle, it took off away from me into the air. A couple of minutes passed and my radio whispered "Daddy...there is a Bald Eagle in the tree next to me!" Travis said they were eye to eye and it was just amazing to him. Good stuff! John

 

[huntRme]

Wow! Owls are near the top of the "cool" list.

 

[DSull]

Great photo's, you never know what you're going to call in when you're hunting for predator's my son and I called in a black bear once!

 

[powderburn]

Super photo hummer, the same son and I had a Northern Pygmy land a couple feet from us when my son was 7 or 8. They are very curious and that one stuck around for several minutes also. I always used to say, " shat I should have had a camera." Now ones glued to my hand almost the whole time I'm out, I just get caught up in the moment and forget to turn it on now. Must be an age thing.

 

[schmalts]

great pic of a great bird.

 

[powderburn]

Found this guy when we were quadding supplies to a back camp. It was just off the trail and made no attempt to leave. We stopped to checked it out figuring it must be hurt. It appeared to be fine and tried pretty hard to look imposing enough to scare us off. We got back on the quads and it flew away.

 

[MKotur325]

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Always loved this picture. My dad took this of a Boreal Owl while on an elk hunt. We were about 8 feet from the owl as it sat in the tree. Such a cool bird.

 

[jryoung]

When I was a just a pup, my friends and I rescued a screech owl that was injured on the side of the road. I got my picture in the paper and a short clip on the news....all the ladies gave me their chocolate milk for a month.

 

[nmelktrout]

Powderburn, that has got to be one of the best and coolest hunting shots I've seen in a long long time.
-Cody

 

[Hummer]

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Always loved this picture. My dad took this of a Boreal Owl while on an elk hunt. We were about 8 feet from the owl as it sat in the tree. Such a cool bird.

Great photo of a great bird! I'm envious, have wanted to find a Boreal in the CO Flat Tops for many years but no cigar. I'm sure they exist there in small numbers but have never seen or heard one while elk hunting. I did see some of the first Boreals discovered in Colorado 30 years ago, in the Cameron Pass area. They've since been found more widely in the Rockies even into Northern New Mexico.

I played with your photo a little to add some color and bring the bird out:



Lots of possibilities:




Fairly often we see the smaller close cousin of the Boreal, the Northern Saw-whet Owl. Sometimes we'll find several calling Saw-whets while cross country skiing at night. Here's one I heard calling from my yard. It was minus 5 degrees in February and I had just stepped out to take some elk steaks off the grill. I mimicked his call and he flew right to me. It was the 5th owl species for our yard....

 

[MKotur325]

It was the 5th owl species for our yard....]

5 Owls on the yard list!! That's pretty stinking impressive... Well done Sir!

 

[maginnis]

Great pictures guys! Ive heard saw whets but still havent seen one. I heard my first barred owl spring bear hunting this year but couldnt find him

 

[powderburn]

My best to date a Short Eared Owl, I'll see if I can find my Snow Owl picture.





Found it...