A U.S. Army vet from Minnesota used his training over the holiday weekend to rescue a bald eagle in a unique way - by shooting the branch on which the bird was stuck.

Jason Galvin was on a bait run in Rush City, Minnesota, on Thursday when he spotted the eagle tangled in a rope, hanging upside down from a tree branch about 75 feet in the air. According to KARE 11 out of Minneapolis, the eagle had been hanging in the tree for two days because, despite calls to authorities by residents who spotted the bird, area emergency workers could not get high enough in the tree to save the animal.

When Galvin joked that he might have to shoot the eagle down, his wife thought the idea had merit. The couple contacted Phil Mohs, a conservation officer with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, who gave them the go-ahead after learning Galvin's background.

"He told me he was a veteran in the service and he wouldn't do it if he couldn't do it safely," Mohs told KARE 11.

U.S. Army veteran Jason Galvin last week used his .22 rifle to shoot down a tree branch on which a bald eagle was trapped upside down, saving the bird's life. (Facebook)

The conservation officer watched through binoculars as Galvin spent the next 90 minutes carefully taking shots at the branch holding the eagle up, as well as others around him. It took about 150 rounds from a .22-caliber rifle to knock down the branch - and the eagle.

Branches and underbrush on the ground broke the eagle's fall. Mohs took custody of him and took him to the University of Minnesota Raptor Center, where he's recovering from his ordeal.

The Galvins and their neighbors have started calling the bird "Freedom," KARE 11 reports. They hope officials will eventually release the eagle back into the wild near where he was found.