Montana Poachers Convicted for Killing Three Bull Elk in Coveted Unit

Montana’s Elkhorn Mountains just gave us another reminder that poaching is not hunting. It is theft from every legal hunter who buys licenses, waits on the draw, follows the season, and accepts that sometimes the answer is no.

The case involved three six-point bull elk killed with rifles during archery season in Hunting District 380, one of Montana’s hardest bull elk permits to draw. In 2023, the success rate for drawing that permit was reported at less than one percent. Hunters can apply for years and still never get that chance.

Court records also tied the case to three whitetail bucks, including one deer left where it fell after a landowner heard shots at night and turned on lights to investigate. That report started a year-long Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks investigation that uncovered violations involving invalid licenses, artificial light, tag transfers, and illegal possession of game.

Tylor Castona of East Helena received six months in jail, $12,650 in restitution, and a 30-year loss of hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges. Alisha Byrd pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor poaching charges and one felony count of tampering with a witness or information. She was sentenced to six months in jail with all but 30 days suspended, ordered to pay restitution and a fine, and lost hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges for 10 years.

That is not a bad day in the field. That is a pattern of taking what belonged to the public and to the people who respect the rules.

Legal hunters get tired of being lumped in with poachers, and we should be. A hunter operates inside seasons, tags, access rules, weapon restrictions, and limits. A poacher cuts the line, shoots what he wants, and leaves everyone else holding the damage.

Bull elk in a limited-entry unit are not just antlers. They are breeding animals, public wildlife, and part of a management system that only works when people obey it. When someone steals three mature bulls out of a unit like that, the penalty needs to hurt.

Support the wardens. Report the shots that do not sound right. Turn in the people bragging about animals they did not have legal tags for. Hunting stays defensible when hunters are the first ones willing to say this is not ours and it is not welcome.