Great Horned Owls
I recently shot these two Great Horned Owls at Fort Matanzas near St. Augustine. The male was about 25 yards from the female. The Great Horned Owl is one of North America’s most common and widespread owls.
The first time I heard owls mating was during a duck hunting/camping trip as a teenager nearly thirty years ago in a remote area of Palm Beach County. Myself and a couple of friends had never heard such howls and screeches piercing the quiet, cold December air. We thought someone was being killed in a satanic ritual. We slept with one eye open and our hands on our shotguns. The next day we were told they were owls mating.