ORIGINAL: moosehornhunter
MK....also, just to back up my point, I just looked into it and it is NOT illegal to shoot a turkey off the roost in Penn. Therefore, it is possible that this whole thing was just a mistake on a turkey hunters part. If the bird that was in the tree had turned out to be a turkey when it hit the ground, it would have been a completely legal kill. Thats why I'm saying, lets just wait and see here.....I have a feeling that this was all just a mistake. IMO If my hunch is correct, i hope they never catch the guy, and I hope he learned from his mistake, as well as all of us.
Moose.... I do think you are correct that there is no law against shooting a bird on roost in PA.
However, here in PA in Spring Gobbler season "Only turkeys with visible beards are legal." - direct quote from PA Hunting Handbook. So, even if the bird was on roost, if the guy can't tell the difference between a turkey and an eagle then he sure as heck didn't see any visible beards.....
And let's just say he did think that he saw a beard or a something in the tree that to him resembled a beard, once he realized his mistake he "shall immediately remove all entrails and deliver the carcass to a Game Commission officer in the county where it was killed" - another quote from Handbook
Any way you look at it, whomever shot this eagle was in the WRONG... mistake or intentionally.... And leaving the bird in the woods for someone else to find shows his ignorance of the bird, of the law and other hunters.