Hunting News
The latest hunting news and press releases, including important reminders for the current hunting season, from the New Mexico Department of Wildlife. See additional wildlife news in Conservation News. Department-wide news can be found under Home → NMDOW News.
Leftover draw licenses go on sale Aug. 13
SANTA FE – A total of 499 deer licenses left over from the 2025-2026 big-game draw will go on sale at 10 a.m. MDT on Wednesday, Aug. 13, through the Department's Online License System. The Department apologizes for the inconvenience caused by the technical difficulties that led to the postponement of the original sale date. The Department greatly appreciates customers' patience through this process. This first-come, first-served sale will only be open to New Mexico residents during the first 24 hours. If any licenses remain after the first 24 hours, the sale will be opened to nonresidents at 10 a.m. Aug. 14. To buy a leftover license, hunters must possess a 2025-2026 Game Hunting or Game Hunting and Fishing License. Hunters may buy the Game Hunting License, the Habitat Stamp and the Habitat Management Access Validation by logging into their account and clicking the Over-the-Counter (OTC) Licenses, Permits and Stamps link under License Sales 2025. Hunters [...]
Youth encouragement Elk license sale begins July 29
SANTA FE – Youth hunters will be eligible to purchase one of 1,960 antlerless Youth Encouragement Elk licenses through the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish's Online License System starting at 10 a.m. MDT on July 29. The Department apologizes for the inconvenience caused by the technical difficulties that postponed the original sale date. We greatly appreciate our customers' patience during this process. The Department will announce the leftover draw license sale soon. The Youth Encouragement Elk hunts are designed to provide additional hunting opportunities for youth and includes 1,570 licenses for any legal sporting arm and 390 licenses for muzzleloader hunts. Licenses will be sold online only on a first-come, first-served basis. To purchase a license, customers will need to log into their Online License System account. Eligibility and requirements: For the first 14 days, the sale is open only to resident youth who have applied in the current license year [...]
Department seeks public comment regarding license vendor fees
SANTA FE – The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish is seeking public comment regarding potential changes to fees currently charged by hunting and fishing license vendors. Currently, all license vendors, including the Department, charge a fee of $1 per license sold. The passage of Senate Bill 5 by the New Mexico State Legislature during its 2025 session enables license collectors to "collect and retain a vendor fee for each license or permit issued; provided that the fee shall be just and reasonable; as determined by regulation of the State Wildlife Commission." The Department surveyed all license vendors statewide following the passage of SB 5, and the majority of vendors who responded expressed a desire to see the vendor fee increased, in addition to the introduction of an additional fee for the issuance of a carcass tag. Since 2017, external license vendors must hand-write each carcass tag they [...]
Department postpones youth encouragement and leftover license sales
SANTA FE – The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has announced the postponement of its annual youth encouragement and leftover license sales due to changes with the Wells Fargo payment process. "This delay is unfortunate, and the Department apologizes for the inconvenience, but this delay is necessary to ensure the system operates fairly and efficiently," director Mike Sloane said. "The Department is working diligently to address the problem." The Department will notify customers when the sales are rescheduled.
Stephen M. Bush Memorial Shooting Range in Clayton to close every third Wednesday beginning July 16
CLAYTON – The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish will close its Stephen M. Bush Memorial Shooting Range for maintenance at sunrise on the third Wednesday of each month, beginning July 16.The range will reopen at sunrise the following day. The closure will allow contractors to safely perform maintenance and remove trash and debris from the range. Public access to the range will be completely restricted on days the range is closed.The Department would like to remind the public to recreate responsibly. This includes packing out all shooting trash, including shell casings and targets and not shooting at glass or other objects not intended to be shot at on the range.