Bonus Hunting at Lakeview Plantation and Cedar Knoll Lodge

EDITOR'S NOTE: You can start hunting deer in parts of South Carolina right now. As a matter of fact, South Carolina deer season in the southern half of the state begins on August 15th, unless that date falls on a Sunday. If the 15th falls on Sunday, the season starts on August 14th. The good news doesn't stop there. You can take as many deer as you like per day because there's no daily limit. To learn more about one of the longest deer-hunting seasons in the nation and the most liberal bag limit, we'll talk with Hayward Simmons this week. He is the owner and operator of Lakeview Plantation and Cedar Knoll lodge.

Question: Is there a bonus hunt for hunters at your lodge?

Answer: All Cedar Knoll hunters can take feral hogs as well as deer. Feral hogs have ranged this area of the Savannah River for over 100 years. These hogs are the progeny of early settlers' swine stock, which once ranged freely, as there were no fencing laws in South Carolina then. The hogs now range as far as 2 miles from the river, especially during flooding. At one time we took as many as 100 hogs a year, but we no longer own that section of riverfront property. However, we plan to purchase more property along the river by next season to ensure our hunters have that hog option.

Question: How many hogs can a hunter take in a day?

Answer: We impose no limit on hogs, but hunters are asked not to take any hog weighing less than 60 pounds or any pregnant or lactating sows. We'd rather our hunters take boars and immature gilts, which are sows that haven't had any pigs yet.

Question: Let me make sure I understand what a hunter can take if he hunts at Lakeview Plantation/Cedar Knoll Lodge. Until September 15 each year, he can harvest as many branch- antlered bucks in a day as he wants, and all the hogs and gilts he wants that weigh 60 pounds or more? After September 15, he can take as many bucks and does in a day as he wants to take, but every time he takes a buck he must take a doe before he can take his next buck with black-powder rifle, bow or modern weapon?

Answer: That's right. Hunters can actually take a doe first and then take a buck, as long as a doe is taken for every buck killed after September 15. This helps us keep our herd in balance and remove enough does from the property every year.

Question: What does hunting at Lakeview Plantation/Cedar Knoll Lodge cost?

Answer: We have several options. The first is Roll Your Own: a) you bring your own sleeping bag, b) you bring and prepare your own food, and c) you clean your own deer. This package costs $225 per day for a three-day hunt.

Another option is Full Service: a) we provide the sheets and linens, b) maid service, c) game handling and d) food and all the full service you expect from a lodge at a cost of $425 each day for a three-day hunt.

Finally, we offer the Deluxe Hunt. This hunt puts you in a nicer facility with a different menu and all the Full-Service features for $550 a day for a three-day hunt.

EDITOR'S NOTE: On the first August afternoon I hunted Cedar Knoll Lodge, I saw 10 turkeys and 10 does and fawns. The second afternoon, I spotted a fawn, a spike in the velvet, a basket-racked 4 point in the velvet, an 8 point in the velvet with at least 16 inches between his main beams and finally, an 8 point not in the velvet with one nearly 19 inches between the main beams. I shot the 19-inch 8-point buck and witnessed one of the most amazing sights in all of nature.

When I squeezed the trigger, I saw a large patch of white, which would normally indicate that I'd knocked the big deer down and the large patch of white should have been his white-haired belly. But, when I went to recover my deer, I could find no trace of him. I know my gun shot true, and I know I was holding dead-on when I squeezed the trigger. I could only conclude that the large patch of white I saw through the scope was the big 8 point turning into a ghost. What makes this true story even more amazing is that the 8 point became a ghost without leaving a corpse. This is the only conclusion I can draw, since I know I don't miss.

The good news is that Hayward Simmons still has plenty of bucks left for me to hunt. With a season that extends until January 1, you can bet I'll be back next year, if not later this year. I want to return to Lakeview Plantation and Cedar Knoll Lodge and hunt the bucks of summer.

For more information on hot-weather deer hunting, contact Hayward Simmons at 875 Cedar Knoll Road, Fairfax, South Carolina, 29827, or by phone at 803-584-0689 or email at lakeviewplantation@barnwellsc.com.