I've seen, and heard a Great Horned Owl many times over the years in both flight and perched in our 450-year-old oak tree for one, and hear a pair hooting back and forth from my bed in the early morning hours. I live in the woods, 100 yards from a large pond in the Litchfield Hills of CT.
I am also about five miles from the Sharon Audubon where they have several resident owls in their aviary. I love to go and watch them.