Hens also come clad in camouflage. Difficult as roosters can be to spot when holding or knocked down in cover, trying to find a downed hen can be impossible without the aid of a dog's nose. It is also their nature to take advantage of their relatively dull color to make the most of vegetation that conceals, select the right time to hold or hike and sprint just as fast as a rooster when they must. Smaller and faster flying than blustery he-birds, comparatively silent risers, more females elude shot charges.

Contrast that with the garish, eye-catching color and ostentatious demeanor of the loudmouth male, a louder and slower wingbeat and a strutting macho attitude that is frequently more of a challenge to dog and gun than an attempt to survive; daring to fly rather than employ any ploy that will ensure survival. Were rooster pheasants responsible for the procreation and survival of the pheasant population, representatives of the species would be perched on dinosaur backs in public museums.

Nature saw to it that mamas not only breed, nest, hatch and nurture chicks, they give the basic lessons in survival when they move their broods out into the reality show that is the world of upland game birds. After "doing their thing" papa pheasants do nothing except attract unwanted attention. While strutting male birds don't lose all the smarts imparted by their mothers (and are worthy contestants for appreciative sportsmen) the inevitable flow of testosterone prompts giving "the finger" to dog and hunter while taking flight prematurely by raucously cussing them out for pushing beyond the limits of a short-fused patience. Because cock pheasants are show-offs, they expose themselves more often when aground; won't sit tight unobserved, more quickly abandon dense cover or switch the game from a "run the ball" offense to "taking to the air" than their determinedly evasive and more patient female significant others. And, as it might be in humans, bird brains may be unequally distributed, which is decisive in determining both the smarts and the mortality rate ratios between the sexes.

While on the subject of pheasants and in answer to another question, I haven't changed my belief that, given a great deal of experience, smart gun dogs with good noses can tell the difference between hen and cock pheasants. At least this held true for several of my dogs and some crackerjack hunters belonging to other people.

An outstanding one comes to mind, possibly because he was the first close-to "purebred" dog I'd ever owned, half English/half American cocker. When I was in high school I started him on squirrel, rabbit, duck, ruffed grouse, woodcock and pheasant.

I didn't train or teach the sturdy, black cocker (17 inches tall, 35 pounds) to sort out birds according to sex. Nor could anyone else. But he reached a point in his prime and over-age when I was absolutely confident when he was down with Clinker, his very proficient Labrador bracemate, that (when they'd split off on obviously separate birds) he'd always be the one to produce the rooster if two birds got up within a short time.

Tar had to have a strong tendency to select before he ever set foot upon a licensed hunting grounds where pheasants are released and both hens and cocks were legally shot, as have most of the dogs that followed him. In fact, had he gotten early training and experience during his introduction to real birds he might never have become a selective flusher. Don't mistake me. I'm not saying he never put out a hen. He did, both wild and released birds. But if there was a "cackler" in the crowd, that would be the bird that Tar was "onto" and got up.