This year for International Women’s Day, we are celebrating the outdoors and those who make it a better place for all. We want to shine a spotlight on some amazing women in the outdoors – leaders, role models, mentors, mothers, sisters, and daughters – by sharing their stories, words of advice and encouragement for other women. We want to uplift and empower all the women who share the outdoors. One of the women we are proud to call our friend at Savage is Tina Dokken. This is her story!

Tina Dokken

My name is Tina Dokken and I am a Wisconsin native, collegiate golfer, coach, and middle school math teacher married to Tom Dokken, a professional dog trainer.

In my 30’s, thanks to my Labrador retriever Samantha leading me to an outdoor show called Game Fair in Anoka, MN. I (really Samantha did) found my husband, who then introduced me to the world of hunting.

I have been hunting for close to two decades. I am blessed to have been exposed to many upland and waterfowl hunting experiences ranging from ducks, geese, pheasants, deer, antelope and turkeys from Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa, Montana, Colorado, Kansas, and Argentina.

I began my hunting life by using my husband’s cut-down shotguns, so I was excited and very honored when Franchi invited me to join their pro-staff to participate in the introduction of the first gun ever made for women- the Catalyst line.

Using my teaching experiences, my passion for this sport has grown into trying to teach, educate and encourage others to create their hunting journey into this incredible sport.

Ladies, finding your path into the hunting world has never been easier with Organizations such as Pheasants Forever’s Women’s only chapters along with the Women On The Wing initiative, the BOW (Becoming an Outdoor Woman) organization located in most states, trap shooting leagues, outdoor shows, etc. Not to mention this sport is great for the family, including your dog! The opportunities are endless, and I want to encourage you to search out your path and make it happen!

Since my dog was my path into the outdoor world and I am blessed to have a dog trainer as a husband, I wanted to share this knowledge with my newly created YouTube channel series called "Tina Dokken Unleashed”. This series features my new chocolate lab puppy named Gabby who joined our family in September of 2021, along with my current hunting dogs Sassy and Chase. She will be going through all the steps it takes to become a future gun dog.  

Thanks for this opportunity to introduce myself and hopefully my story will inspire more women to join in on the fun this incredible sport of hunting has to offer and begin your hunting journey to create a lifetime of memories for you and your family!

Follow Tina Dokken @tinadokken

Read more Women in the Outdoors stories!