Todd Huey | Founder of Huey Outdoors & Lone Star Boars

Todd Huey is the founder of Huey Outdoors and Lone Star Boars, a retired law-enforcement firearms instructor, Texas feral-hog eradication hunter, and longtime field tester of thermal and night-vision optics.

Known online as “The Hogfather,” Todd built his reputation by showing real hunts, real equipment performance, and real-world tradeoffs – not by repeating manufacturer specification sheets.

Lone Star Boars began as a hog-hunting forum before social media became the center of the outdoor world. It grew into a large video library, an active forum, and a community focused on feral-hog control, night hunting, thermal optics, suppressed rifles, and the equipment that actually works after dark.

Today, Todd brings that same field-first approach to Huey Outdoors: test the equipment, compare it under real conditions, explain the tradeoffs, and help customers choose the optic that fits the way and place they actually hunt.

Field Experience Before the Sales Pitch

Todd launched Huey Outdoors in 2018 with a simple goal: sell equipment he had personally tested and knew worked in the field. That standard still guides the store today.

His experience comes from years of night hunting, large-scale feral-hog eradication, equipment development feedback, same-night optic comparisons, and thousands of hours behind thermal and night-vision systems. The conclusions on Huey Outdoors are based on what Todd sees while hunting – not simply what appears on a box or dealer sheet.

Huey Outdoors sells many of the products discussed in Todd’s reviews. Todd’s recommendations remain his own field-based opinions, and they are updated as models, prices, firmware, and availability change.

Why Todd Huey Is Known as “The Hogfather”

Todd became known online as “The Hogfather” after helping pioneer the unfiltered documentation of large-scale feral-hog eradication on YouTube and social media. Long before thermal hunting content became common, Lone Star Boars showed the realities of locating, approaching, and controlling destructive hog populations on Texas farms and ranches.

The nickname became part of the Lone Star Boars identity and appeared on official Hogfather merchandise. More importantly, it represents the experience behind Todd’s equipment reviews: the optics are evaluated while doing the work they were built to do.

How Todd Tests Thermal and Night-Vision Equipment

Todd’s reviews are designed to answer practical buying questions. Depending on the product, his testing may include:

Same-night, side-by-side comparisons on the same targets
Known or ranged target distances
Temperature, humidity, fog, rain, and low-contrast conditions
Native field of view and base magnification
Target identification rather than detection claims alone
Eyepiece footage when onboard recording does not show the full viewing experience
Digital zoom versus optical or ocular magnification
Depth of field and the need to refocus as animals move
Laser-rangefinder alignment, reliability, and practical range
Controls, focus, battery changes, mounts, recoil, weight, and rifle balance
Real hunting footage with moving hogs, coyotes, cattle, and other field targets

The purpose is not to declare one scope perfect for everybody. It is to explain which optic works best for a particular distance, terrain, budget, and style of hunting.

From Lone Star Boars to Huey Outdoors

Lone Star Boars started as a forum and developed into a long-running collection of hunting videos, tactics, field reports, and equipment discussions. Huey Outdoors grew from that experience when Todd saw that many dealers could repeat specifications but could not explain how an optic actually behaved in the field.

The two brands now serve different parts of the same mission. Lone Star Boars documents the hunts, lessons, and equipment in use. Huey Outdoors gives hunters a place to buy the equipment and speak directly with someone who has used it.

Selected Interviews, Articles, and Media

Best Thermal Scope for Your AR – With Todd Huey — ARBuildJunkie
Hog Hunting – The Best AR Calibers — ARBuildJunkie
N-Vision HALO-LR Thermal Scope with Todd Huey — ARBuildJunkie
Lone Star Boars Loadout: with the Pulsar Thermion XP50 — International Sportsman
What to Know Before Buying a Thermal Scope — International Sportsman
Customer Todd Huey Featured in North American Whitetail Magazine — Leitner Designs
Thermal Thugs Podcast EP #4 – Texas Hog Hunting with Todd Huey — Apple Podcasts
Hunting Hogs with Lone Star Boars — Kit Badger
Interview with Todd Huey of Lone Star Boars — YouTube / Brazos Valley Boars & Varmints
Todd Huey of Lone Star Boars – Best Hog Rifle — YouTube

Additional Industry Features and Television

LWRCI Adds Todd Huey to Its Pro Staff — AmmoLand, 2015

An industry announcement covering Todd’s law-enforcement and firearms-instruction background, professional depredation hunting, LWRCI Pro Staff role, and involvement in product testing and development.

TFB Innovators Friday: Todd Huey of Lone Star Boars — The Firearm Blog, 2017
An outside profile covering Todd Huey, Lone Star Boars, firearms, hunting, and the development of his public hunting platform.

Thermal Hog Hunt with Silencer Shop and Lone Star Boars — Tactical Gun Review, 2015
A third-party account of a Central Texas thermal hog-eradication hunt with Todd Huey and Silencer Shop.

Todd Huey Television Appearance — Show Teaser
Promotional teaser from one of Todd’s televised hunting appearances with Keith Warren The High Road.

Current Field Reviews and Buying Guides

Talk to Todd Before You Buy

Choosing a thermal optic is not only about sensor resolution or detection distance. Base magnification, field of view, lens design, thermal sensitivity, image processing, display, controls, weight, rangefinder behavior, expected distance, and hunting terrain all matter.

Call Huey Outdoors at 817-668-1001 and explain how you hunt, your typical shooting distance, your terrain, and your budget. Todd will help you narrow the choices and explain the tradeoffs instead of simply pushing the most expensive product.