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East Helena Man Sentenced for Poaching in Elk Horn Mountains
Author: Mikayla Melo, Independent Record

Mikayla Melo

Independent Record

An East Helena man will lose his hunting privileges and pay thousands of dollars in restitution as part of his sentence for poaching three six-point bull elk and three white-tailed bucks in 2023.

Tylor David Castona, 40, appeared for his sentencing hearing via Zoom from Montana State Prison on Thursday. He was sentenced by Lewis and Clark County District Judge Kathy Seeley to six months in jail, along with restitution totaling $12,650. His hunting, fishing and trapping privileges were also revoked for 30 years.

Castona was charged in December 2024 with 16 misdemeanor poaching charges, including four counts of unlawful possession or transportation of a game animal, four counts of hunting over the limit and eight other counts related to licensure and equipment.

“He has flagrantly violated the law,” Seeley said at the sentencing. “I do know hunters, I do participate in a hunting family. This is so wrong and it is very troubling to me.”

He was initially charged with one felony count of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and one felony count of tampering with a witness or informant, but prosecutors dropped both felonies as part of a plea agreement.

Castona was already incarcerated at Montana State Prison at the time he was charged with the poaching violations, serving time for sexual assault. Because of this, prosecutors agreed to allow his prison sentence to count as time served on the poaching charges, meaning he will serve no additional jail time.

Broadwater County prosecutors said the two defendants involved, Tylor Castona and Alisha Byrd, illegally harvested three six-point bull elk with rifles during the 2023 archery season in Hunting District 380, which covers the Elkhorn Mountains.

This district requires permits to harvest a bull elk that can only be obtained through a lottery process with extremely slim chances. Only 0.94% of hunters who applied for that tag drew it in the 2023 season.

According to court documents, they also poached three white-tailed bucks near Townsend in the following month. One of those deer was shot at night and left on the ground. The landowner discovered the deer when he turned his lights on to investigate the gunshots.

The landowner called Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, triggering a year-long investigation that uncovered the two-month poaching spree of deer, elk and a spike bull elk.

Documents state that Castona and Byrd hunted without valid licenses, used artificial light at night to shoot deer and illegally transferred hunting licenses between themselves. Byrd also allowed Castona to shoot an elk on her tag when she was the license holder.

“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,” said game warden Troy Hinck, who led the investigation. “If a person was to do this for a private outfitted hunt, each one of these would probably be about a $10,000 opportunity.”

Byrd pleaded guilty in April to one felony count of tampering with a witness or information and four misdemeanor counts of poaching-related charges. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped six other misdemeanor counts.

She was sentenced on June 13 by Lewis and Clark County District Judge Michael McMahon to six months in the Broadwater County jail with all but 30 days suspended for her involvement in the poaching spree. Byrd will have to pay a restitution of $1,100 and a fine of $50. Her hunting, fishing and trapping licenses were revoked for 10 years.

Castona’s nephew, Tracer Castona, also pleaded no contest in March 2025 to two misdemeanor charges in Broadwater County Justice Court for allegedly helping retrieve one of the bull elk.

The Broadwater County and Lewis and Clark County sheriff’s offices both assisted in the investigation.

“This was not ethical hunting in any way, shape or form. This was not fair,” Seeley said.

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PhotoCredit: Sonny Tapia, Independent Record Photographer
Image 1 Caption: Three elk skulls lean on a table in Lewis & Clark District Court on June 25 during Tylor Castona's sentence hearing. Sonny Tapia, Independent Record Photographer