I was hunting with a new couple of guys and my oldest son on opening day of the Iowa season and one of the guys I was with mis-identified a couple of hens and drew my son into the action as they each shot down a hen. We were all horrified as no one had ever done that before. Both felt really, really bad about what they had done. I gave them both hell for not correctly identifying the birds and since it is illegal to shoot hens and then possess them we left them under a bush for the critters (coyotes, crows, etc.) to feed on when they find them. I've seen so many hawk, owl and coyote "lunches" of hen pheasants that I don't cry over dead hens (or any critter for that matter). Suck it up, get over it and don't do it again.