August Re-cap

​The NM State Wildlife Commission met on August 21, 2026 in Las Vegas, NM to approve the remainder of the Big Game Rules for the next 4-year rule cycle. All the Big Game Rules for hunting season 2027-2030 have now been approved. The final version of the Deer, Elk, Pronghorn, and Bighorn Rules are described below. To view the Hearing Archives for previously approved rules, click HERE. Select the “2026” hearing archive and you can view the approved Rules for Exotics, Migratory Bird, Javelina, and Turkey all of which were approved earlier this year.

Please note: The Predator Rules (Bear and Cougar) are on a staggered schedule from the Big Game Rules. These rules will be reviewed and revised next year and any changes would apply to the 2028-2031 hunting seasons.  
 
APPROVAL OF THE DEER RULE 
The Department provided their final presentation regarding their proposed changes to the next 4-year cycle of the Deer Rule. The Commission voted unanimously to approve the Rule. The Deer Rule is now finalized for hunting season 2027-2030. Changes to the Rule are summarized below. You can read the Rule in its entirety, see the changes on a per GMU, and review the season dates for each of subsequent 4 years HERE.

General Statewide Changes

• Adjust season dates
• Shift start dates to maintain hunts beginning on Saturday or adjusting to maintain consistent hunt structure.
• Designate the premium statewide deer hunt as a Quality Hunt.
• Require the purchase of a license at least a day prior to the start of the hunt. For hunts where published season dates are less than 6 days, hunters will no longer be able to buy a license once the hunt starts.
• Require a “ranch registration” process for OTC private-land deer licenses, similar to the current registration process used for private land elk hunting in Secondary Management Zones.
• Implement a cap on private-land only OTC deer licenses for each GMU. If license distribution within a GMU is disproportionately skewed toward a particular hunt due to private land sales patterns, licenses will be redistributed to reduce that skew, though not necessarily distributed equally across all hunts.

Northwest

• Reduce deer licenses in GMU 2B by a total of 885 licenses
• Move GMU 2B to a Quality Hunt
• Create new rifle hunt code in GMU 51A to spread out pressure. The overall license numbers will remain the same.
• Create a public muzzleloader deer hunt (10 licenses) on Wildlife Management Areas in GMU 4.

Southwest

• Structure the January hunt on White Sands Missile Range (GMU 19 WSMR only) as a youth hunt.
• Create a December rifle hunt for Coues white-tailed deer in GMUs 16 and 22 (20 licenses in each GMU)
• GMU 23 and 24 archery hunters who do not harvest an FAD, will no longer be permitted to hunt the Silver City Management Area antlerless hunt.
• A new hunt code will be created for the Silver City Management Area antlerless archery hunt (50 public licenses and 20 private licenses).
• Change youth rifle hunts in GMUs 13 and 17 to youth muzzleloader hunts to match elk weapon type for the same time and increase licenses for muzzleloader hunts in these units.
• No longer include Fort Bayard as a special management area. Hunters drawing a tag for GMU 24 can hunt any legally accessible land in GMU 24, including Fort Bayard management area.
• Create a public rifle hunt for Mimbres River WMA in GMU 24 (5 licenses).

Southeast

• Remove the antlerless hunt in GMU 32 Roswell and Fort Sumner Hunt Areas. Keep Youth Only antlerless hunt (15 public and 20 private licenses).
• Remove the antlerless hunt on the Huey WMA; change the ES hunt to FAD bag limit.
• Significantly reduce licenses in GMUs 29 (-120), 30 (-525), and 34 (-100).

Northeast

• Adjust license numbers to meet management strategies and reflect changes in deer herd dynamics.

APPROVAL OF THE ELK RULE 
The Department provided their final presentation regarding their proposed changes to the next 4-year cycle of the Elk Rule. The Commission voted unanimously to approve the Rule. The Elk Rule is now finalized for hunting season 2027-2030. Changes to the Rule are summarized below. You can read the Rule in its entirety, see the changes on a per GMU, and review the season dates for each of subsequent 4 years HERE.

General Statewide Proposed Changes

• Designate the premium statewide elk hunt as a Quality hunt.
• Require the purchase of a license at least one day prior to hunting. For hunts where published season dates are less than 6 days, hunters will no longer be able to buy a license once the hunt starts.

Northwest Region

• Increase antlerless (‘A’) licenses within GMU 2 December Youth Only (YO) and December 2C only rifle hunts. Licenses shall increase from 75 to 100 for each hunt.
• Change early October Mature Bull (‘MB’) licenses from any legal weapon to muzzleloader hunts in GMU 5A (10 licenses) to align with new muzzleloader hunts within other PMZ units.
• North Central Region
• Create a new muzzleloader hunt within the Sargent WMA to begin after archery and before rifle hunt seasons. Bag limit shall be ‘MB/A’, 10 licenses.
• Create a new muzzleloader hunt within the Humphries/Rio Chama WMAs to begin after archery and before rifle hunt seasons. Bag limit shall be ‘MB/A’, 10 licenses.
• Create a new muzzleloader hunt within GMU 5B to begin after archery and before rifle hunt seasons. Bag limit shall be ‘MB’, 56 licenses. Redistribute 37 December ‘MB’ rifle licenses to the muzzleloader hunt in GMU 5B. Muzzleloader hunts typically have lower success rates; thus, these licenses are redistributed at a higher ratio to increase hunt opportunity.
• Create a new muzzleloader hunt within GMU 50 to begin after archery and before rifle hunt seasons. Bag limit shall be ‘MB’, 65 licenses. Redistribute 45 late October and early November ‘MB’ rifle licenses to new muzzleloader hunt in GMU 50 at a higher ratio to increase hunt opportunity.
• Create a new muzzleloader hunt within GMU 51 to begin after archery and before rifle hunt seasons. Bag limit shall be Either-Sex (‘ES’), 145 licenses. All licenses for this hunt were redistributed from the existing December muzzleloader hunt in GMU 51.
• Increase ‘A’ licenses within GMU 51 for both mid and late November hunts from 251 to 265 licenses.

Southwest Region

• Create a new muzzleloader hunt within GMU 12 to begin after archery and before rifle hunt seasons. Bag limit shall be ‘MB’, 35 licenses.
• Create a new muzzleloader hunt within GMUs 16A, 16B/22, 16C, and 16D to begin after archery and before rifle hunt seasons. Bag limit shall be ‘MB’, 35 licenses for each GMU. Within GMU 16A, a total of 15 licenses shall be redistributed at a higher ratio to the new muzzleloader hunt to increase hunt opportunity. Although overall ‘MB’ licenses will increase slightly within the Greater Gila elk herd, anticipated harvest should be stable or slightly decrease as muzzleloader hunters, on average, have lower success rates. Additionally, shifting rifle ‘MB’ hunts later in the season will decrease bull susceptibility to harvest during rut and increase potential for older age class bulls.
• Reduce ‘A’ rifle licenses within GMU 16A, 16C, 16D, and 16E by 27-30% and shift cow hunts earlier in the season to reduce adult female mortality in the Greater Gila elk herd unit. Elevated adult female mortality and low calf recruitment within the Greater Gila elk herd, combined with persistent drought conditions, have contributed to declining population performance in this region.
• Create a new muzzleloader hunt within GMU 21A to begin after archery and before rifle hunt seasons. Bag limit shall be ‘MB’, 15 licenses.

Southeast Region

• Increase ‘A’ licenses within both late season (Jan/Feb) cow hunts within GMU 34 from 200 to 230 licenses to increase harvest on adult females.
• Northeast Region
• Create a new muzzleloader hunt within GMU 49 to begin after archery and before rifle hunt seasons. Bag limit shall be ‘MB’, 20 licenses. A total of 13 October ‘MB’ rifle licenses shall be redistributed to new muzzleloader hunt in GMU 49 at a higher ratio to increase hunt opportunity.

Secondary Management Zones

• Create new late-season cow elk rifle hunt (20 licenses) in GMUs 29/30 to address increased population within these units.
• Create 2 new either sex rifle hunts within GMU 32 (30 licenses)
• Create 2 new bow hunts with 20 licenses each in GMU 38.

Special Management Zones

• Reduce cow elk licenses by 17% within the Valle Vidal (GMU 55A)

Youth Encouragement

• Eliminate all Youth Encouragement hunts within the Greater Gila elk herd unit (GMUs 15, 16A, 16C, 16D, 16E) to reduce harvest pressure on adult females. Population indices suggest these elk herds are declining because of low calf recruitment and high adult female mortality, further intensified by drought conditions. A portion of these licenses will be redistributed to other Youth Encouragement hunts throughout the state.
• Create two new Youth Encouragement hunts of 75 licenses each within GMU 2 to increase harvest pressure on adult females and increase youth opportunity.
• Increase Youth Encouragement hunt licenses within GMUs 34 and 36 to increase harvest pressure on adult females.
• Increase Youth Encouragement hunt licenses within GMU 51.

APPROVAL OF THE PRONHORN RULE
The Department provided their final presentation regarding their proposed changes to the next 4-year cycle of the Pronghorn Rule. The Commission voted unanimously to approve the Rule. The Pronghorn Rule is now finalized for hunting season 2027-2030. Changes to the Rule are summarized below. You can read the Rule in its entirety, see the changes on a per GMU, and review the season dates for each of subsequent 4 years HERE.

• Require the purchase of a license at least one day prior to hunting. For hunts where published season dates are less than 6 days, hunters will no longer be able to buy a license once the hunt starts.
• Implement a ranch registration process for purchase of private land OTC pronghorn licenses, similar to the current registration process used for private land elk licenses in Secondary management zones.
• Implement a cap on private land OTC licenses and consider a more even distribution in hunts, similar to the public draw. If license distribution within a GMU is disproportionately skewed toward a particular hunt due to private land sales patterns, licenses will be redistributed to reduce that skew, though not necessarily distributed equally across all hunts.
• Shift GMU 4/50/52 rifle hunt to muzzleloader hunt
• Adjust season dates where necessary. For example, shifting start dates to maintain hunts beginning on Saturday or adjusting calendar day starts for consistency.
• Based on discussions with McGregor and White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) staff, we recommended the following: • McGregor: Decrease from 2 hunts of 7 licenses down to 2 hunts of 2 licenses • WSMR: Decrease from 1 hunt of 5 down to 1 hunt of 3, and adjusting the bag limit from ES to MB
• Include GMU 48 alongside GMU 47 to allow hunters to access both GMUs during their draw hunt. Licenses will remain the same.
• Similar to bighorn sheep and ibex, shift all F-IM license numbers to be “up to,” allowing the Department to adjust draw licenses up or down depending on population surveys.
• Decrease license numbers in GMUs 41, 47, 56, 57, 58, and 59 to match current hunting levels. Specifically, the 20% license reduction implemented in 2025 will be retained as the baseline for the 2027-2030 seasons, rather than reverting to pre-2025 license numbers.
• Public draw hunt license numbers will remain unchanged from the 2023-2026 rule cycle, except those outlined in point 9 above.
• Shift season dates in SW later to address a later breeding and fawning period, with hunts beginning mid September.

 
APPROVAL OF THE BIGHORN SHEEP RULE
The Department provided their final presentation regarding their proposed changes to the next 4-year cycle of the Bighorn Sheep Rule. The Commission voted unanimously to approve the Rule. The Bighorn Sheep Rule is now finalized for hunting season 2027-2030. Changes to the Rule are summarized below. You can read the Rule in its entirety, see the changes on a per GMU, and review the season dates for each of subsequent 4 years HERE.

• Establish Rocky Mountain bighorn hunting in GMUs 14 and 18;
  • This change would allow for private land hunting opportunities for license years 2027-2028 through 2030-2031.
  • The Dept is working with the private landowners.
  • 50% of the licenses would be allocated through the public draw and 50% would be provided to the participating landowner.
• In response to public comments, the Department will shift the hunt periods for the Little Hatchets and Big Hatchets desert bighorn hunts from September and October, to December. 
  • Both hunt areas would have two concurrent hunt periods from December 1-15 and December 16-30.
• The Department will adjust season dates in some areas. For example, if a hunt normally starts on a Saturday, this date shift would be maintained throughout the rule so the hunts continue to start on Saturday or adjusting to calendar starts for consistency.
• Require the purchase of a license at least one day prior to hunting.