Jamal al Ahmed, the Caracal Shooting Club's chief range officer, can always tell the women who are going to be really good with a gun in their hands. They tend to be the nervous ones who jump out of their skin when they first hear a shot being fired.
Many have to be coaxed back on to the range after fleeing, and who can blame those unsure on being introduced to the sport?
The noise of gunfire in such a confined space pierces the ear drum and that is not to mention the shells which fly back after every shot. Yet these initial sceptics turn out to be the sharpest of sharpshooters.
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• A mother who guns for the big time
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"When we started up the club at the Armed Forces Officers Club in Abu Dhabi, it was funny to watch some of the girls run out of the range when they heard the very first shot being fired," al Ahmed said.
"The noise had given them such a surprise and a fright. But it is always, always those women who get the best results."
Why is this?
"Well, they focus better and listen carefully to what the instructors say," al Ahmed said.
"They go through everything step by step, which is important, and this helps with concentration. I have been really surprised by how good some of them are. I have to say that there are some who shoot perfectly from the very first day, even if at first they looked really scared. They are naturals."
At this week's competition at Caracal Shooting Club, where females make up the majority of the 400 members, the women once again took centre stage in the second year of the event.
Both individual and team scores for the women were better than their male counterparts, albeit they shot at a target five metres closer than the men.
Nearly all of the nine, six-strong women's teams were made up of Emiratis who, according to al Ahmed, feel empowered by the sport.
"This is a big sport with UAE woman," al Ahmed, who works with the police and military as well as amateurs, said.
"I think it's because they see shooting guns as an adventure. When they fire their guns, they feel as if they are doing something different to the men.
"If you look at the scores from last year and this week's competition, the women always have better scores than the men. Why is that? It's because they concentrate more than the men, who sometimes think it's going to be easy to shoot.
"[The women] really focus on the target instead of trying to show off with a gun in their hand.
"At home, the families tend to support the girls who want to shoot. You see a lot of mothers here, watching how their daughters get on."
Inas Raid Obeidi won the individual competition at the Caracal Club this week, registering an impressive score of 95 on Tuesday night.
"I have three daughters, all 12, and I would be happy for them to get into the shooting when they are older," Obeidi said. "I would really support them if they showed an interest."
It remains to be seen if the women have the desire to turn this recreational activity into an Olympic pursuit.
The Emiratis certainly have the facilities to hone their skills.
At the end of last year, one of the world's biggest shooting galleries opened in Al Ain with 120 lanes.
The interest is already starting to be replicated at international level.
The UAE took a team of 11 shooters to the Asian Games earlier this year - only the football team was bigger.
Sheikh Juma bin Dalmouk returned with a silver medal in the men's double trap event.
"The UAE would have a great women's Olympic shooting team," al Ahmed said.
"Some of the girls I see are just about perfect. There are a few who get a score of 97 out of 100. That means, out of 10 shots, seven were the maximum.
"There are so many really superb women shooters in the UAE, and many of them travel all over the GCC to compete against other nations. They are all civilian as well, not professionals. If they were in the military and could practice every single day, then, of course, they would become even better."
Obeidi only took up the sport last year amid juggling her responsibilities as a wife and a mother to her triplets.
"You have to remember that these are not professionals who get the opportunity to practice all the time," al Ahmed said.
"They have families and jobs. This is what is so impressive because the skill needed to be good at this sport takes time to perfect."