Army Vet Shoots Bald Eagle Out of Tree

RVTECH · Jul 4, 2016

Just saying I hope he wasn't raining .22 into a neighborhood. And yes I value human life over animal life, symbolism aside.

I have to agree with this. The 'symbolism' of an Army Vet shooting the limb does not outweigh the incredible lack of firearm safety here. I think Mr. Galvin needs a refresher in basic firearm safety but the picture of him standing in the road suggests to me he might not be too receptive to that idea.

BillM · Jul 4, 2016

He did it with the permission/blessings of all agencies involved--so I'm assuming the
risk of his rounds doing damage on the way down was minimal.
I do agree that it looks like a foolhardy act under todays "rules", but consider this:
When I was a kid we used to use 22's (and larger) to shoot mistletoe out of trees,
and even today it's common practice to shoot squirrels etc. with no backstop except
the sky. While it seems dangerous, when was the last time you saw a headline or
heard on the news "Man/Woman/dog/car/whatever injured by falling bullet".

(Other than the brouhaha up at Clark Rifles---which I don't believe was ever proven)

RVTECH · Jul 4, 2016

He did it with the permission/blessings of all agencies involved

Well this does seem to be the case so in effect he is 'off the hook'.

The Heretic · Jul 4, 2016

Bear in mind that .22 LR is not all that powerful and that hunters shoot shotguns up into the air all the time (00 buckshot weighs 60 grains per pellet and travels faster than .22 LR HV ammo). Yes, theoretically a .22LR projectile can travel 1.5 miles, but it is unlikely to do much to anyone it hits after traveling that distance.

So I think I this person the benefit of the doubt and assume that he gave at least some consideration to safety during his rescue operation.

Certaindeaf · Jul 4, 2016

To be honest, I didn't click. However, quite recently I've been thinking that with all our geewillickers .22lr ammo (respect) maybe they could consider making a slug a tiny bit harder.. for penetration. Looking at the picture, that stick looks pretty thick and stout and well could be the reason for stacking 150 there to do the deed.
I know that to increase the BHN of pure lead from 4.5 to.. oh, 7, it might require an incremental increase in tool costs.. perhaps on the order of a penny/per billion struck, but the penetration of this new wonder thought ammo would yield in return more than that. In money.
Again, it probably was a pretty big stick and 25 whole yards is like 22860 millimeters.. especially for a scoped rifle, yo.

The Heretic · Jul 4, 2016

Most bulk RN LR ammo does not expand very well. I think someone posted some results in a thread here on NWF regarding that fact. I was reading about Paco Kelly's tools to make RN .22 LR projectiles expand better. I think the standard RN RF ammo would just drill a hole through a branch - that has been my experience anyway.

jbett98 · Jul 4, 2016

I would have climbed the tree, sawed the branch off, then lowered it down with a rope.

RVTECH · Jul 4, 2016

I would have climbed the tree, sawed the branch off, then lowered it down with a rope.

Yea - I have a hard time believing the Dept of F & W of the state just threw in the towel thinking it was too high to do anything.

The Heretic · Jul 4, 2016

jbett98 said:
I would have climbed the tree, sawed the branch off, then lowered it down with a rope.

That isn't always possible, dangerous to a degree, and some of us are way too old to even attempt it.

All said and done, it turned out well for all parties concerned.

The Heretic · Jul 4, 2016

RVTECH said:
Yea - I have a hard time believing the Dept of F & W of the state just threw in the towel thinking it was too high to do anything.

It depends on who answers the phone and what is involved.

I've seen agents of the gov. come unglued about trivial stuff, and others shrug off the important stuff.

Mountainman38 · Jul 7, 2016

The Heretic said:
I think we should each donate a brick of .22 LR to this guy.

So he can practice?

RVTECH · Jul 7, 2016

This did remind me of something I did many years ago when I was stationed at Tinker AFB in OK. I lived about 10 miles out in the country and on the rented property I lived on a large grapevine that had snaked it's way up a power line and was growing around it. Well the owner and I were looking at it one day and I said I could probably cut it with a shot or two of No 8 out of a shotgun. I had plenty of room and I was able to get within about 15' of the vine and two careful shots did it. Fortunately it was close enough where the spread of the shot was probably no more than 4-6" so I had full effect of it. AND nothing but land behind the property for a long way! Oh BTW - I took the rest of the vine out (more like a small tree) and cut it up into small chunks and used it in a smoker - grape wood is great smoking wood!