Swarovski Optik CA Elk & Hogs

Photo by Ryan TrenkaSunny Southern California is famous for its white sandy beaches bordering the warm Pacific Ocean and palm trees blowing in the breeze. After my trip to California, I found myself singing the tune from the Beach Boys wishing that I too was a California girl, but not for the reasons that you may think.

 A mere 60 mile drive north of the big city of Los Angeles is a very special place in the heart of Southern California, the Tejon Ranch. This spectacular ranch takes you away from the hustle and bustle of the typical California life of traffic jams, honking car horns and shoulder to shoulder people to a place that its main inhabitants are Blacktail deer, Russian hogs and Rocky Mountain Elk.

A coyote’s yip can be heard for miles across the historic 270,000 acre ranch, the largest of its kind in California. The Tejon Ranch’s history begins in 1843 as a Mexican land grant and is deeply rooted under the principals of long term conservation, ranching and farming.

I met up with Dean Capuano of Swarovski Optik to film our adventures in the pursuit of Russian hogs and Rocky Mountain Elk for the 2014 season of Swarovski Optik Quests television show that airs on the Outdoor Channel.  

I never would have imagined that some of the biggest bull elk I have ever been blessed to hunt would be in California.  Be sure to tune in and see for yourself how our adventure unfolds. After seeing the Rocky Mountain Elk of Southern California you too will have a new appreciation of what hunting California has to offer the western elk hunter.