The steady decline of populations taking up recreational hunting is cause for concern among state and federal wildlife agencies. Young hunters are the future of hunting. As the average age of hunters continues to increase, young people participating in hunting activities provide an opportunity for insight to change the current declining trend. Flow theory and hunter satisfaction have both received extensive attention in research literature, however they have been utilized in separate and disconnected settings. An attempt to combine both constructs, as a way to measure intrinsic and extrinsic motivational, mood, and flow indicators of youth hunters has not been attempted to date. Measuring and understanding antecedents of "flow" in youth is an important consideration when determining why youth enjoy hunting as an outdoor recreational experience. This exploratory study utilizes flow theory and the four-channel model of flow to examine relationships among youth hunters' (12 to 16 years of age) experiences and satisfaction during Michigan's Special Youth Firearm White-tailed Deer Hunt (n=43). This research provided a snapshot in time of young hunters, their experiences and the satisfaction of those experiences during the youth hunt. Of the youth participants in this study, 69% indicated that they intend to go back out in the field for Michigan's opening day of firearm deer season (November 15, 2012). Additionally, 97.6% of youth respondents intend to hunt in future years, providing support for implementation of special hunting opportunities where youth and mentors can enjoy the experience of hunting together. This exploratory research suggests that there is a significant and direct relationship between "flow" experiences and young hunters that hear deer and other animals, and see white-tailed deer. Knowledge of congruence between "flow" experiences and hearing deer and other animals, and seeing white-tailed deer offers the opportunity for further research on a much broader scale of licensed young hunters in Michigan. This research also has the potential to inform recruitment and retention personnel of state wildlife agencies about ways to support programs that promote hunting activities within younger populations in the future.
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