Some of the illegal bull skulls | Photo: SONNY TAPIA, Independent Record
A Montana man with a lengthy criminal history has been handed one of the stiffest penalties in recent memory for a brazen poaching operation that targeted trophy bull elk and white-tailed bucks back in 2023. In what is looking like a breath of fresh air in a world often filled with performative nonsense, it’s nice to see the hammer drop like this every once in a while.
The man that hammer dropped on was Tylor David Castona, a 40-year-old resident of East Helena, who appeared via Zoom from his comfortable digs at Montana State Prison last Thursday for sentencing. It was then that before Lewis and Clark County District Judge Kathy Seeley, Castona was ordered to pay $12,650 in restitution, serve six months in jail (concurrent with his existing sentence for sexual assault), and forfeit all hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges for 30 years.
Court records show Castona and an accomplice, Alisha Byrd, illegally harvested three six-point bull elk with rifles during the 2023 archery season in Hunting District 380, a limited-entry area in the Elkhorn Mountains. Tags for bull elk in this district are strictly issued by lottery only, with success rates hovering below 1% each year (0.94% in 2023). Reports also indicated that the pair also poached three white-tailed bucks near Townsend the following month, including one shot at night with artificial lights that was left to rot.
According to prosecutors, the violations included hunting without valid licenses, exceeding bag limits, illegal tag transfers, and the use of prohibited equipment. Castona faced 16 misdemeanor poaching-related charges. Two felony counts (tampering with evidence and a witness) were dropped as part of a plea agreement.
“He has flagrantly violated the law,” Judge Seeley stated during sentencing. “I do know hunters, I do participate in a hunting family. This is so wrong and it is very troubling to me.”
Game Warden Troy Hinck, who led the year-long investigation triggered by a landowner’s report of nighttime shots, described the case as particularly egregious.
“It’s just a very flagrant poaching case that demonstrates they will use any means to take the most vulnerable animals and that they are targeting our largest trophies,” Hinck said. “If a person was to do this for a private outfitted hunt, each one of these would probably be about a $10,000 opportunity.”
As for his accomplice Alisha Byrd, she took a plea deal that handed her a 10-year license revocation along with six months in jail (all but 30 days suspended). Castona’s nephew, Tracer Castona, also faced charges for assisting in retrieving one of the elk.
