BEJOU, Minn. — A pessimist might have been disappointed at the wet fields that blanketed McCollum's Shooting Preserve on a recent Saturday morning.

It was going to take more than that to dampen the enthusiasm on this morning, though.

"Today is going to be a good hunting day," Terry McCollum announced over breakfast in the lodge at the 1,500-acre preserve. He'd already "stocked" 50 pheasants and a couple of chukar partridges into a nearby field, and the rain had stopped.

McCollum and his wife, Theresa, were hosting seven women at their northwest Minnesota preserve as part of a "ladies only" pheasant hunt sponsored by the National Wild Turkey Federation's Women in the Outdoors program. The women, who ranged from seasoned shooters to participants who'd never picked up a shotgun, were on hand for two days of laid-back learning — without the pressure of a husband or other male hunting partner.The previous afternoon, the women had gotten some target practice on the club's range, where they learned about shooting and determining the "pattern" of their shotguns. They also learned about upland game, hunting with dogs and why pheasants prefer certain types of habitat.They'd finished off the evening with a silent auction and raffle, and a pheasant feast around an open fire.Now, it was time to put that knowledge to work.There'd be some wet feet by the end of the morning, for sure, but the damp conditions would hold the birds and help the dogs pick up their scent, McCollum said."They play a little more fair when it's wet," he said.

Different atmosphereRose Hanson was one of the participants on this damp morning. A longtime trap shooter from Grand Forks, N.D., Hanson had helped organize the hunt at McCollum's. She and her husband, Marv, knew the McCollum family and had visited the preserve in the past.Despite her years of shooting, Hanson said she didn't have much experience shooting at real birds.She wasn't afraid to try, though, and that's what Women in the Outdoors events are all about."Talking for myself, you can be intimidated by other men, so when it's all women, it's just a little different atmosphere," Hanson said.After a short safety session, it was time to hit the field. Terry McCollum and his German shorthair, "Snoop," would take one group of three women while Jeff Hunt of Thief River Falls, Minn., and his shorthair, "Maggie," guided the other group.The plan was to meet back at the cabin for a short break, and then head back into the field for another walk to finish out the morning.There was lots of room to spread out, and the birds were waiting.

True to McCollum's predictions, the wet conditions helped the dogs, and it wasn't long before his shorthair, Snoop, locked up on point."Get ready," McCollum said.Hanson happened to be in the right place at the right time when the hen pheasant erupted from cover, and she dropped it with a single shot. Unlike hunts for wild pheasants, which are roosters only, shooting preserves allow hunters to take hens."Isn't that about the most precious thing?" Hanson said, the excitement in her voice obvious as McCollum handed her the bird.Two more pheasants would join the pile back at the cabin after the first walk. There'd been a few wasted opportunities along the way, but everyone had gotten some shooting.Best of all, they were having fun.

Nathalie Barrett of Grand Forks was one of the women to shoot her first pheasant during the initial walk. An emergency room nurse for Altru Health System, Barrett had never fired a gun before the previous day.Barrett said her husband had bought her the ladies-only trip so she could learn more about shooting and become comfortable enough to join him in the field."I didn't even know what a pheasant looked like before I came here," she said. "My two boys are 14 and 10. They always wanted me to go hunting. I was afraid of the kick (of the shotgun) — that's all that was keeping me from going hunting."Will she go again?"Oh definitely," she said. "I 'texted' my husband and said, 'I have just one thing to say: Benelli."'Chances are, she'll soon have one of the top-of-the-line shotguns to call her own.