Unit 4 Deer Hunting, New Mexico
New Mexico hunting unit · 693 sq mi
Draw hunts — random, no points
New Mexico has no preference or bonus points: every hunt here with draw odds is a random draw, with its own hunt code. Residents, nonresidents applying without an outfitter, and applicants applying with a registered outfitter (a pool open to residents and nonresidents) are drawn in separate pools, and the table gives each pool's odds in words. Private-land-only deer hunts in Unit 4 go through the draw, with an authorization code from the landowner. Some hunts here are for New Mexico residents only; a nonresident is not eligible for them.
What hunting Unit 4 is like
Unit 4 is rolling country, with some steeper breaks, running from around 6,700 feet up to 11,400 feet. At the lower elevations shrub and brush dominates, with conifer and pinyon-juniper, riparian strips and pockets of grass and meadow mixed in. Climb into the mid elevations and conifer and pinyon-juniper and deciduous forest take over more of the ground alongside the shrub and brush, while the higher country is mostly conifer and pinyon-juniper and deciduous forest with grass and meadow and riparian threads worked through it. Most of the unit is gentle to moderate ground, and a hunter on foot can cover a lot of it, though the small steep and rugged slices reward anyone willing to climb into them for glassing.
Only about a tenth of Unit 4 is public land by ownership — a mix of State Wildlife Management Area, BLM and State Trust land — and that ownership figure is not the same as open access, since some parcels are closed or restricted. State Trust land can be used only during a hunter's own hunt, plus a short scouting window beforehand, and only by entering on public or established roads. Private land covers roughly four-fifths of the unit, so most hunting here depends on written permission, and a further share is tribal land closed to state-licensed hunting. The draw hunts listed for this unit are the public-land route, all restricted to the Humphries, Rio Chama and Sargent Wildlife Management Areas; a hunter wanting to hunt private ground elsewhere in the unit needs a private-land-only deer licence, obtained through the draw with a landowner's authorization code, and that licence is good only on the private land named in it, never on State Trust or other public ground.
All four deer seasons here sit inside the same three wildlife management areas, so the draw and the calendar matter as much as the ground itself. New Mexico has no points system for deer, so every application stands on its own each year regardless of history.
Deer hunts in Unit 4 (2026–27)
Each row is a hunt a hunter selects by its hunt code. Draw difficulty is a band in words from the 2026 first-choice results — good, fair, long or very long odds — for each pool; a dash means too few applicants to give a fair band. It is not a published percentage. The outfitter pool is open to both residents and nonresidents.
| Hunt | Dates | Legal deer | Resident | Nonresident, no outfitter | With an outfitter | Rut phase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ArcheryQuality hunt DER-2-141 Humphries/Rio Chama/Sargent WMAs only | September 1 – September 24 | Fork-antlered deer (mule deer or white-tailed) | Long odds | Residents only | Residents only | Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition |
| Any legal weaponQuality hunt DER-1-133 Humphries/Rio Chama/Sargent WMAs only | October 24 – October 28 | Fork-antlered deer (mule deer or white-tailed) | Very long odds | Residents only | Residents only | Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging |
| Any legal weaponQuality hunt DER-1-136 Humphries/Rio Chama/Sargent WMAs only | October 31 – November 4 | Fork-antlered deer (mule deer or white-tailed) | Very long odds | Residents only | Residents only | Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging |
| Any legal weaponQuality hunt DER-1-138 Humphries/Rio Chama/Sargent WMAs only | November 14 – November 18 | Fork-antlered deer (mule deer or white-tailed) | Very long odds | Residents only | Residents only | Primary Rut |
"Residents only" hunts (antlerless elk, and hunts held only on state wildlife areas) are closed to nonresidents. "Unlimited" hunts are private-land hunts: no quota, no draw, valid on private land only with the landowner's written permission. A "Quality hunt" is a State Wildlife Commission designation for hunts meant to improve the chance of a successful harvest, offer a wider selection of mature animals, or give a better experience through timing or hunter density. Youth, mobility-impaired, military and other special-eligibility hunts are not listed.
Archery · Fork-antlered deer (mule deer or white-tailed) · September 1 – September 24
This archery hunt falls in the velvet shed and early fall transition phase, when bucks still hold to much the same daily pattern they kept through summer. Mornings are for finding a buck on the feed and marking where he beds, since the country's shady pockets and north-facing slopes hold bedded deer through the heat of the day; a bedded buck is a buck that can be stalked at midday rather than chased blind. Evenings call for more glassing, sometimes to set up a stalk but more often just to keep eyes on a buck until dark and return for him at first light. A buck that seems to vanish has usually only tucked into a nearby crevice or draw, so it pays to check the small folds in the terrain before moving on, and this is a Quality hunt limited to the Humphries, Rio Chama and Sargent Wildlife Management Areas with a draw open to residents at long odds.
Any legal weapon · Fork-antlered deer (mule deer or white-tailed) · October 24 – October 28
Running into the last days of October, this hunt lands in the early pre-rut and migration-corridor staging phase, when deer may be starting to drift from summer range toward the ground they will use during the rut. Glassing the country between those two areas is the main tactic, watching the shrub and brush and timber edges that connect them rather than committing to one fixed spot. October's cold mornings and modest average snowfall can start to move deer off the highest ground, but any shift depends on what has actually fallen by the hunt dates. It is a Quality hunt, any legal weapon, restricted to the Humphries, Rio Chama and Sargent Wildlife Management Areas, and the draw for it runs at very long odds for residents.
Any legal weapon · Fork-antlered deer (mule deer or white-tailed) · October 31 – November 4
A week later than the late-October hunt but in the same early pre-rut and migration-corridor staging phase, this season still rewards glassing the travel country between summer range and the rutting ground rather than any one piece of cover. By now average snowfall for the month has climbed, and where real accumulation has built up on the higher ground, deer are more likely to have worked down to lower, more open ground that is easier to glass. It remains a five-day, any-legal-weapon Quality hunt confined to the Humphries, Rio Chama and Sargent Wildlife Management Areas, with residents facing very long odds in the draw and nonresidents unable to apply.
Any legal weapon · Fork-antlered deer (mule deer or white-tailed) · November 14 – November 18
By the second half of November the unit is in the primary rut, and bucks are actively with does rather than holding to solitary summer patterns. Weather moving through can push deer out of the high country onto lower, more glassable ground, and fresh snow is worth checking for fresh tracks that point to where bucks are moving. The standing advice holds: find the does, because the bucks are most likely nearby or already with them, and early and late light are the best times to glass for both. This is another Quality, any-legal-weapon hunt limited to the Humphries, Rio Chama and Sargent Wildlife Management Areas, open to residents only in the draw at very long odds.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 6,700–11,400 ft, typically around 8,500 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 64% gentle · 31% moderate · 5% steep · 1% rugged
- Public land by ownership
- ~72 sq mi
Habitat & cover
What grows here, by elevation. Each band adds to 100% on its own — these are shares of that band, not of the unit.
Lower elevations
- Shrub and brush68%
- Conifer and pinyon-juniper14%
- Other cover9%
- Riparian5%
- Grass and meadow4%
Mid elevations
- Shrub and brush49%
- Conifer and pinyon-juniper33%
- Deciduous forest13%
- Riparian3%
- Other cover2%
Higher elevations
- Conifer and pinyon-juniper45%
- Shrub and brush28%
- Deciduous forest17%
- Grass and meadow5%
- Riparian4%
Cover classes from the USGS National Land Cover Database. “Other cover” is the remainder — bare ground, water, agriculture and developed land.
Land & access
About 10% of Unit 4 is public land by ownership — State Wildlife Management Area, BLM and State Trust land. Ownership is not the same as legal access: some parcels are closed or restricted.
- State Wildlife Management Area9%
- BLM<1%
- State Trust land<1%
- tribal land8%
- Unclassified ownership3%
- Private79%
Public land includes State Trust land (1% of this unit). You may use it only during your own hunt, plus up to 7 days of scouting beforehand, entering by public or established roads (NM State Land Office / Game Commission easement). Some parcels are withdrawn; check the State Land Office's hunting-access map.
Tribal land requires the tribe's own permission and licence — a New Mexico deer licence is not valid there.
Fall weather
- August — highs around 77°F, lows around 46°F
- September — highs around 70°F, lows around 39°F
- October — highs around 59°F, lows around 29°F, about 1.3 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 47°F, lows around 20°F, about 7.7 in of snowfall
- December — highs around 38°F, lows around 11°F, about 14.2 in of snowfall
Unit 4 deer hunting FAQ
Can a hunter get a deer licence for Unit 4 without going through the draw?
Not on public land. The archery and any-legal-weapon deer hunts in the Humphries, Rio Chama and Sargent Wildlife Management Areas are all draw hunts. A private-land-only deer licence is also available for the private ground that makes up most of the unit, but in Unit 4 that licence is obtained through the draw as well, using an authorization code from the landowner, and it is valid only on that private land.
How hard are these hunts to draw, and does it differ by pool?
All four listed draw hunts are residents-only; nonresidents are ineligible. For residents, the archery hunt draws at long odds while the three any-legal-weapon hunts in October and November all draw at very long odds.
Can a nonresident hunt any of these seasons?
No. All four deer hunts listed for Unit 4 are held entirely on the Humphries, Rio Chama and Sargent Wildlife Management Areas, and those wildlife-management-area hunts are open to residents only. A nonresident is ineligible to apply for any of them in the draw.
Does New Mexico use preference points or bonus points for these hunts?
No. New Mexico has no points system of any kind for deer, so there is nothing to build or hold from year to year. Every application for these hunts is judged on its own in the year it is submitted.
How much of Unit 4 is public land, and what is the rule on State Trust land?
Public land by ownership comes to roughly a tenth of the unit, split among State Wildlife Management Area, BLM and State Trust parcels, with private land making up most of the rest. State Trust land within that public share can be used only during a hunter's own hunt, plus a short scouting window beforehand, entered by public or established roads, and some parcels are withdrawn from use entirely.
Data sources & methodology
- New Mexico Department of Game and Fish — Hunting Rules & Info booklet (2026-27) — season dates, legal animals, hunt codes and the rules for each hunt
- New Mexico Department of Game and Fish — How the New Mexico draw works — the random draw, the choices a hunter ranks and how licences are split among the draw pools
- New Mexico Department of Game and Fish — Applications and draw information — the draw results behind the draw-difficulty bands for each pool
- New Mexico Department of Game and Fish — Game management unit maps — unit boundaries and the official unit maps
- USGS / MRLC — National Land Cover Database — habitat and cover classes by elevation band
- USGS PAD-US — Protected Areas Database of the United States — land ownership and access
- Daymet daily climate, 1991–2020 (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) — fall weather
- National Interagency Fire Center — wildfire perimeters — recent fires, their size and where they burned
Draw difficulty is a qualitative band from first-choice results for each pool, not published odds. Rut phases are regional timing, not New Mexico-specific dates. Land shares are separate, non-overlapping categories. Confirm current dates and rules in the New Mexico Hunting Rules & Info booklet before you hunt. Unit data last updated October 21, 2026.