Local teen bags wild first hunt

Many 13-year-olds might shy away from hunting if their first trip involved bears charging them, dragging their deer off in the middle of the night and attempting to climb on top of their camping trailer.

But for Victor Perez Carrillo of Polson, the excitement only added to the adventure.

“I kind of want to do it again because of those things,” Carrillo said.

Originally from Mexico, Carrillo’s first Montana hunting experience came this fall outside Condon with local hunting instructor Tom Fieber.

It did not disappoint.

The action started on day one, as the two scouted for deer in the foothills of the Swam Mountains. Instead, they encountered a boar grizzly bear feeding on grass at the edge of a pond.

“I said that we should try to get closer to get some photos,” Fieber wrote in an essay about the trip that he was submitted to hunting magazines. “Victor was hesitant to do so, but I reassured him that since he could probably out run me he was going to be safe.”

Fieber and Carrillo were able to snap several photos and escaped the area unnoticed. A short time later, however, their experience was different. This time they entered a logged area and found themselves 50 yards from a sow standing on her hind legs with three cubs in tow.

Carrillo recalled watching in silence as the bear dropping to all fours and began to charge.

“We had our bear spray out and we were just ready for her,” Carrillo said.

To the hunters’ relief, the bear was bluffing. After closing the 50-yard gap in what seemed like several bounds, Carrillo said the bear paused, returned to her cubs and retreated into heavy timber.

Gathering their wits about them, Carrillo and Fieber continued on. Along the next stretch of road they spotted a spike buck and Carrillo successfully bagged his first deer. Getting it home to the freezer, however, would prove more difficult.

After hanging the carcass overnight, Carrillo woke to find his prized deer gone. A quick search revealed what was left of the mangled carcass lying clear across the campsite, dragged by nothing less than another bear.

Quelling Carrillo’s disappointment, the local game warden gave the go ahead for him to shoot another buck on his tag. Later that afternoon, one-well placed shot brought Carrillo his second deer in as many days.

Wanting to keep a memento, Carrillo placed the head and hide on top of the motor home he and Fieber were camping in. But it wasn’t enough to deter their nocturnal visitor.

Carrillo said he was woken late in the night late by a disturbance.

“It was like something was rocking the camper back and forth,” he said.

Fieber wrote in his essay that he woke as well and went to check on Carrillo and his 18-year-old granddaughter Hannah, who had come out to join them, thinking one of them had fallen out of their beds.

“There were four big eyes looking back at me,” Fieber wrote in his essay. “It wasn’t us, they said.”

The three quickly came to the realization that a bear was attempting to scale the camper and get at the deer remains. They proceeded to make as much noise as possible, turning the motor home on and honking its horn until the bear was nowhere to be seen.

“I don’t think it was really scared though,” Carrillo said. “I think he was just waiting for us to go to sleep again.”

About an hour later, Carrillo said that he heard the sound of heavy breathing once more. He was all-alone in his realization, however. Everyone else had fallen back asleep.

“I didn’t want to look outside the window in case it was there,” he said.

Instead he resolved himself to huddling under his blanket, bear spray in hand. Aside from menacing noises, nothing more came of the bear and Carrillo left the trailer the next morning to retrieve his carcass.

The last day of hunting brought one more buck, this time for Fieber’s granddaughter Hannah. And when they returned to pack up camp they caught one last glimpse of their nighttime raider as the bear disappeared into the woods.

“When we got to the motor home it had paw prints on the sides that are still there today,” Fieber wrote.

Despite the sequence of unsettling events, Carrillo said his confidence was buoyed by Fieber’s knowledge and experience.

For Fieber, who has survived numerous close encounters with bears during a lifetime of hunting, the 13-year-old poise under pressure was impressive. Fieber wrote in his essay that watching Carrillo pose with his hard-fought deer was a testament to the draw of the sport.

“I think that he forgot all about the bears …as he held onto the horns for his pictures,” he said.

As for Carrillo, he said the experience only fomented his interest.

“I really want to do it again,” he said.