New Mexico Deer Hunting

New Mexico has no preference or bonus points of any kind for deer. The public draw deer hunts listed in these guides are a random draw: a hunter ranks hunts by hunt code, and each application is given a random sequence number and processed in that order. Each application's first, second, and third choices are checked before the next application is processed. One applicant's second or third choice can therefore be awarded before a later applicant's first choice is considered. Deer can also be hunted on private land with a Private-Land Only Deer License, which is sold outside the draw in most units and is valid on private land only, with the landowner's written permission — never on public land, State Trust land included. In a few units (8, 46, 54, 55A and 55B) the hunts listed on private land are unlimited licences with no draw. In Units 2A, 2B, 2C, 4 and 5A, private-land-only deer hunts are the exception: they go through the draw, with an authorization code from the landowner.

Hunters are drawn in three pools: residents; nonresidents applying without an outfitter; and applicants applying with a registered outfitter — a pool open to both residents and nonresidents. By law residents receive the large majority of licences. Hunts held only on state wildlife areas are for residents only.

Each guide covers what the country is like, how to get in, recent fires, and what each hunt is like on the ground, with draw difficulty in words for each pool.