Two archery hunters in the Little Belt Mountains watched something that archery season explicitly forbids: a man gunning down a massive bull elk with a rifle. That report, filed on Sept. 22, 2025, kicked off an investigation that has now ended with a Billings father and his son pleading guilty to a combined nine poaching-related charges, with the father banned from hunting in Montana for the next 20 years.
Trophy Bull Left to Rot
According to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the bowhunters reported that a man shot a large bull elk with a rifle during archery-only season, and their account launched the case that eventually led investigators to Michael Jason Letasky of Billings. The bull turned out to be a 6×6 that scored 321 2/8 Boone and Crockett, meeting the state's trophy restitution standards, the agency says. Instead of being recovered, the animal was left at the scene, rendering its meat unfit for human consumption, according to the same account.
Game warden Diego O’Brien, the lead investigator on the case, said the hunters' response made all the difference. Their quick and accurate reporting and assistance in locating evidence were crucial to this investigation, O’Brien said, per the agency's account. Wardens and Wheatland County deputies used that information to track down the kill site and build a case against Letasky.
Guilty Pleas and Decades-Long Bans
Michael Jason Letasky pleaded guilty in Wheatland County District Court to two counts of unlawful possession of a game animal, two counts of hunting during a closed season, and one count of wasting a game animal, the wildlife agency reports. He faces over $12,000 in fines and restitution and will lose hunting privileges for 20 years in Montana and every other state in the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, according to the same account. As Outdoor Life reported, the father and son's combined penalties add up to 24 years of lost hunting privileges.
His son, Kolton Letasky of Austin, Texas, pleaded guilty separately in Musselshell County Justice Court to two counts of unlawful possession of a game animal and two counts of hunting without a license. Kolton faces over $3,000 in fines and restitution and will lose hunting privileges for four years, the wildlife agency's account states.
A Pattern Stretching Back Years
The case didn't stop at the 2025 incident. Investigators determined that Michael Letasky also shot a raghorn bull elk in the same area with a firearm during archery-only season in 2023, and that he was in possession of an unlawful black bear he had failed to report, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Separately, NBC Montana reports that investigators uncovered evidence of additional illegal elk, deer, and black bear violations dating back to 2022.
Kolton Letasky's own record extended further back as well. Investigators found he had killed a mule deer buck in 2024 and a bull elk in 2022 in Musselshell County without the required permits, the wildlife agency's account notes.
How This Case Stacks Up
Montana's penalties for poaching trophy wildlife can swing widely depending on the animal and the violation. State code provides $8,000 in restitution for a person convicted or forfeiting bond or bail for purposely or knowingly illegally killing, taking, possessing, or wasting an elk with at least six points on one antler, while a bighorn ram with at least three-fourths curl carries a restitution figure of $30,000, according to Montana Code Annotated §87-6-907.
Other recent Montana cases show just how severe the consequences can get. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks reported that Dylan Charles Boyer received a 10-year loss of all Montana hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges, an eight-year trespass from the Marias River Wildlife Management Area, and more than $20,000 in restitution earlier this year, with co-conspirator Cameron Wyant taking a near-identical hit and a third man, Maxwell Krupp, losing four years of privileges. In a separate Musselshell County case, six men from Montana and Washington pleaded guilty to poaching bull elk and mule deer bucks tied to violations between 2020 and 2024, KTVQ reported, with one man, Ben Valadez of the Tri Cities, Washington, hit with $8,050 in fines and restitution and an eight-year license revocation, and another, Mitch Miller of Roundup, Montana, assessed $3,050 and the same eight-year revocation.
