Wild hog numbers are increasing in certain areas of the U.S. and, although not classified as carnivores, they are predatory in that they can locate and consume baby fawns.
Yet another important factor is their consumption of prime whitetail vegetation. There are many accounts of whitetail land managers reporting that pigs have ravaged food plots and native forage like acorns.
In the end, whitetails have to move on or circle around these grunters to meet their nutritional needs.
In an eyewitness account, my wife was watching a herd of whitetails foraging moist green-up along a creek basin. She was hidden in a stand of river cane.
After a few minutes, three large porkers were sighted moving in the direction of the deer. The deer became alert but did not move at first.
It wasn’t until the hogs moved toward the whitetails and charged that the deer hightailed into the high grass — abandoning their succulent food source.