Perspectives of New York State residents to deer management, hunting, and predator reintroductions

High white-tailed deer abundance in the United States represents an ecological and human health threat. Reducing deer populations by lethal means and facilitating return of large predators are two potential, but controversial, management options. We used an online questionnaire to measure perspectives on deer management and predator return among a stratified sample of New York State residents. We found widespread acceptance (>70%) for reducing deer populations using lethal means if doing so would reduce Lyme disease, increase forest regeneration, protect native plants and animals, and improve road safety. Acceptance for shooting more deer was unaffected by ethnicity but strongest among respondents who were older, identified as hunters or conservationists, owned more land, and considered health and safety while answering our questionnaire. Respondents who identified as animal protectionists were least accepting. Restoring regionally extirpated wolves and cougars had limited acceptance..., This dataset contains data from an online questionnaire we used to assess perspectives of New York State residents on deer management and potential return of large predators. Qualtrics LLC (www.qualtrics.com) recruited 1,206 adults (aged 18 or older) living in New York State who answered our questionnaire from 6 - 28 June 2022. To reduce sampling error and increase external validity, we stratified our sample to approximate the population of New York State in terms of age, ethnicity, and gender identity according to the most recent American Community Survey statistics (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020). We oversampled from rural areas to permit more powerful rural-urban comparisons. Respondents reported beliefs about who should participate in deer management; how acceptable it would be for people who shoot deer to use meat and other parts in various ways; how acceptable it would be for land managers to allow shooting more deer if doing so would help achieve various ecological and socioeconomic o..., , # Data from: When dogma meets reality: perspectives of New York State residents to deer management, hunting, and predator reintroductions

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2280gb60s](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2280gb60s)

The spreadsheet contains data from 1,206 respondents (recruited by Qualtrics LLC) to our survey regarding public perceptions of deer management and deer welfare in New York State. We stratified our sample to approximate the population of New York State in terms of age, ethnicity, and gender identity according to the most recent American Community Survey statistics (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020). We oversampled from rural areas to permit more powerful rural-urban comparisons. All respondents provided informed consent and completed a block of demographic questions to ensure they met sample quotas before answering survey questions. Each row of the spreadsheet contains responses from an individual respondent, with columns referring to their demographic information and answers...,