DOI: 10.5061/dryad.2280gb60s
title: Data from: Perspectives of New York State residents to deer management, hunting, and predator reintroductions

description: 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 (&gt;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 (&lt; 30%) but was strongest among those who
 identified as hunters or conservationists.  Contrary to commonly
 held beliefs, preferences for deer management or predator restoration did
 not differ among urban and rural respondents. This common ground needs to
 be reflected in deer management in the state due to legal obligations to
 represent interests of all residents. 
description: 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
 objectives; and how acceptable if would be for wolves and cougars to
 return to New York, either by natural recolonization or deliberate
 reintroduction, in order to help manage deer. We recorded responses using
 seven-point Likert-type items with the additional option of “I don’t
 know”. Individuals indicated relevance of ethical concerns when responding
 to previous blocks using four-point ordinal scales. Respondents described
 their perceptions and experiences with deer using a combination of ordinal
 and seven-point Likert scales.  Respondents provided additional
 demographic and social identity information.  To
 discover potential distinguishing characteristics of individuals who
 perceived shooting more deer generally to be more or less acceptable, we
 created a composite score of their responses to 11 items on deer
 management. We first converted the seven-point Likert scale to a numerical
 scale (strongly disagree = 1, disagree = 2, somewhat disagree = 3, neither
 agree nor disagree = 4, somewhat agree = 5, agree = 6, strongly agree =
 7), and calculated the mean of these values across items for each
 respondent, excluding “I don’t know” responses. Following this method, we
 also created composite scores for responses to questions on whether wolves
 and cougars should be allowed to return or be reintroduced, and whether
 respondents would welcome them to their local area. The composite deer and
 predator scores served as our response variables in analyses, with
 respondents' answers to other survey questions as the predictor
 variables.
description: # 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 to questions from the survey (see file "BlosseyEtAl_NY_Deer_questionnaire.docx" for full survey). ## Spreadsheet columns: Below is a description of each column in the dataset. Bullet points contain the column name and the survey item/question the column refers to. Columns (A-H) refer to the following demographic data: * gender: respondent's gender * age.group: respondent's age category in years (18-39, 40-54, or 55+) * latin.origin: whether respondent is of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin? * race: respondent's race * currently.live: whether the respondent currently lives in an urban or rural area * grew.up: whether the respondent grew up in an urban or rural area * education: the highest level of formal education the respondent has completed * land.owned: how much land the respondent owns Columns I-K refer to questions regarding respondents' beliefs about how important it is that people who shoot deer have certain characteristics. They were asked how strongly they agree or disagree with the following statement: *It is important that people who shoot deer…* * shoot.local: ...are from the local area * shoot.pass.test: ...need to pass a shooting proficiency test * shoot.professional: ...are professionals and shooting deer is part of their paid occupation, not a pastime Columns L-Q refer to questions regarding respondents' beliefs about how acceptable it is for people who shoot deer to keep and/or sell certain parts of the deer. They were asked how strongly they agree or disagree with the following statement: *It would be acceptable for people who shoot deer to…* * keep.meat: ...keep the meat * share.meat: ...give the meat to friends and family * sell.meat: ...sell the meat * donate.meat: ...give the meat to people in need, such as donate it to a food bank or other charitable organization * keep.parts.use: ...keep parts of the deer other than the meat, such as skulls, hides, or antlers to manufacture clothing or tools * keep.parts.display: ...keep parts of the deer other than the meat, such as heads skulls, hides, or antlers for display Columns R-AB refer to respondents' opinions on statements about different reasons why forest or land managers might choose to encourage shooting of more deer. They were asked how strongly they agree or disagree with the following statement: *It would be acceptable for land managers to shoot more deer if doing so would help…* * forest: …forests to recover by reducing deer browse * economic.costs: …reduce economic costs of deer eating crops * plants.gardens: …reduce deer browse on ornamental plants and gardens * other.animals: …allow other wild animals to thrive * plants.wild: …allow wild plants to thrive * carbon: …address climate change by allowing trees to grow that will store more carbon from the atmosphere * starve: …reduce the number of deer that starve in winter * lyme: …reduce the spread of Lyme disease to people * hunting.opporunities: …create more hunting opportunities for people who like to shoot deer * protein: …provide access to high-quality protein * road.safety: …improve road safety by reducing deer vehicle collisions Columns AC-AG refer to respondents' answers to the following: *While you were answering these questions, to what extent were the following considerations relevant to your thinking?* * social.justice: Social justice, such as fairness and equality among communities of New York State * environmental.conservation: Environmental conservation, such as protecting forests, climate, or biodiversity * health.safety: Public health and safety, such as reduced disease transmission and road accidents * deer.welfare: Welfare of deer, such as reduced suffering in deer vehicle collisions and winter starvation * nondeer.welfare: Welfare of wild animals other than deer Columns AH-AM refer to questions about respondents' experiences and perceptions of deer in New York State * enjoy.deer: I enjoy knowing that wild deer live in New York State. * knew.killed: Before taking part in this study, I knew that deer in New York were killed, for example to reduce agricultural damage or high deer populations in suburban areas. * see.deer: How often do you see deer in New York? * thought.population: Before taking part in this study, I thought the number of deer in my local area was... * trust.government: How much of the time do you trust your local or state government to make the right decisions? * responsibility.deer: Who should have primary responsibility to make deer management decisions on private land Columns AN - AS refer to how strongly respondents agree or disagree with statements about predators existing or being reintroduced to New York. * wolves.allowed: Wolves should be allowed to return to New York State to help manage deer * wolves.reintroduced: Wolves should be deliberately reintroduced to New York State to help manage deer * wolves.welcome: I would welcome wolves and in my local area * mlions.allowed: Mountain lions should be allowed to return to New York State to help manage deer * mlions.reintroduced: Mountain lions should be deliberately reintroduced to New York State to help manage deer * mlions.welcome: I would welcome mountain lions in my local area Columns AT-AV refer to how strongly respondents identify as hunters, conservationists, or animal protectionists * hunter: I think of myself as a hunter. * conservationist: I think of myself as someone who supports environmental conservation. * animal.protectionist: I think of myself as someone who supports animal protection and welfare. Columns AW-AZ are composite scores for respondents' answers to questions about deer management and predators that we used as response variables in our analysis. Composite scores were calculated by converting the 7-point likert scale to numeric, with "I don't know" responses removed, and averaging across survey items. * Deer.Score: average response to questions about deer management outcomes (columns R-AB) * Predator.Score: average response to questions about predators (columns AN - AS) * Wolf.Score: average response to questions about wolves (columns AN - AP) * Mlion.Score: average response to questions about mountain lions (columns AQ - AS)