Texas Hog Hunter Drops Massive Boar on Nighttime Stalk

A hog hunter in North Texas killed the biggest pig he’s ever seen from a cornfield near the Oklahoma border. Dakota Landers dropped the 350-pound boar in the dark on Aug. 18.

Landers tells Outdoor Life that late summer is his favorite time to chase wild pigs near his home in Fannin County. Farmers cutting corn, soybeans, and other crops attract hogs hiding from the summer sun.

“I spend a lot of time scouting,” Landers says. “I’m just checking out all the fields that are being cut, and if I see a farmer, I’ll ask if I can hunt there at night.”

Most farmers happily oblige because Texas is home to at least 1.5 million wild hogs. While large-scale trapping is the most effective method for controlling feral pig populations, a hunter with a rifle and thermal scope can help reduce crop damage.

After getting permission to hunt a new field, Landers drove by after dark and spotted the massive pig.

Attempt No. 1

Landers got out of the truck but realized he made a mistake. Although he had his gun—a Colt Competition AR-style rifle with a Sig Sauer thermal reflex sight—there was no round in the chamber.

“I should’ve racked it up by the truck,” Landers thought. He quietly pulled back the bolt to load a round, but his shot missed when he pulled the trigger. The pig ran into a creek bottom and vanished.

“I knew he wouldn’t go far, so I waited and let him calm down,” Landers says. He had a plan and needed reinforcements.

Attempt No. 2

By Thursday, Landers recruited his friends, Nathan Stringer and Ryan Nichols, and they returned to the field. They saw the same pig again, but it ran off when it spotted a deer.

After 9 p.m., the trio returned to the pitch-black field. Using thermal scopes, they quickly found the pig.

“He was on the upwind side, so he wouldn’t smell or hear us,” Landers explains. “When they’re eating corn, they’re too loud to notice.”

Landers took the shot, and his friends followed up with shots of their own. The pig didn’t move.

Walking up to the dead boar, they were in awe of its size. They estimated it to be around 300 pounds, but it weighed 352 pounds on Landers’ dad’s scale.

“We couldn’t believe it. The farmer was blown away too,” Landers says. “350 pounds might not sound crazy, but they rarely reach 300 pounds up here. It’s like a 200-inch whitetail. A pig has to be smart to grow that big—especially in Texas—and they don’t get big without being smart.”

Landers plans to get a Euro mount of the boar’s skull and continue hunting on more farms before harvest season ends.