The Issue:

tag allocation

Tag allocation issues are about how tags are distributed, particularly the amount available to NM residents.

These issues are mult-layered and vary by species over the distribution method, private versus public availability, and management rules. These issues exploit a pay-to-play system to partially guarantee a tag to those willing to pay extra costs.

NMWF views these issues as unfair and inequitable to NM residents, harmful to NM traditions and heritage, and against regulations codified in statute.  

AT A GLANCE

  • The big game tags available for public draw is not more than 60% of all tags for any big game species.

  • The Outfitter Set-Aside puts up to an additional 10% of available draw tags to a pay-to-play system that requires a contract with an outfitter to apply. 

  • Species-specific allocation methods vary, but display preference for privatization over NM resident opportunity. This includes EPLUS, unlimited landowner tag distributions, and bighorn sheep tag lumping. 

  • New Mexico is an outlier in the West, distributing 72% of all private elk tags in the Western region.

  • Surveys show that 95% of non-hunters understand and accept hunting to feed your family, but that the same group negatively views hunting for trophy or sport. Hunting is at risk over its public perception of use - the more it becomes a monetarily exclusive activity, the more skepticism traditional protein procurement receives.

by the numbers

Data collected from New Mexico’s Department of Game and Fish in 2022((??)) revealed how the state’s tag allocation system benefit private interests and nonresidents over NM residents.

TakeBackYourElk.com, 2022 and 2024 Reports

BASICS TO KNOW:

  • Tag: A tag refers to the required permit needed in order to hunt an animal. Every species legally requires a hunter to acquire a tag. Tags are acquired in two ways: over-the-counter or in the draw.

  • Over-the-counter (OTC): Many species have tags available for purchase from the NMDGF or an authorized license vendor. These tags can be for public or private lands.

  • Draw: A lottery-based system where hunters select which species and location they are interested in, submit their top 3 choices, then wait for the draw results.

  • Hunt Code: A shorthand department identifier to indicate a hunt’s species, weapon allowance, location, and hunt dates. The hunt code is set-up as such: DER - 1 - 105, Species - Weapon - Location/Date. Hunt codes are assigned to each tag.

  • North American Model of Conservation (NAM): establishes

  • Public Trust Doctrine: Establishes that land and wildlife are public resources managed by trustees for the beneficiaries of the trust, where the trustee is the wildlife/natural resources department and the beneficiaries are the residents. For federal public lands, that means the land beneficiaries are all United States residents. For wildlife, they are managed by the state governments, making the beneficiaries the residents of that state.

  • NM State statute: Codifies a division of draw tags that will go to no less than 84% of residents, no more than 10% to outfitter-led hunts, and no more than 6% to non-residents.“quote and state which statute” -

A Deep Dive

Draw Tag Availabilty - Privatization

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The 10% Outfitter Set-Aside

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Species Issues

Elk

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Mule Deer, Pronghorn, Barbary Sheep, Oryx

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Bighorn Sheep

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Community Stories

  • Gage Mortensen

    "I’ve been putting in since I was 11 years old and right now I’m 23 and I’ve drawn two years. How is it fair for New Mexican kids that can’t even draw but there’s out of staters posting that they drew three tags of multiple species? The hunting system isn’t not out for people to make money off of. It’s put so we can put meat in the freezer and feed our families. Giving our tags to outfitters to make money is not the answer. Give New Mexicans a fighting chance."

  • Rick Medrano

    "It’s been 6 straight years since I’ve last drawn a tag. Most years I apply for elk, deer, Barbary sheep, and statewide oryx. As I was growing up every hunting season it was a tradition. We would have a huge camp made up of family and friends. We’d bond and make memories during these hunting adventures. This family tradition has been ruined by the draw system. Our first time hunters are not getting to hunt and enjoy the outdoors. Hopefully this issue doesn’t continue to be ignored. Change is needed so NM residents and their families can take to the field and create memories that last a lifetime."

  • The Salazar Family

    "I have been hunting in NM since i was 12. I am now 50. Between my dad, brother, nephew and myself we have not drawn a deer tag in 10 years or an elk tag in 6 years. We have never drawn for antalope tag. I have never expected to get drawn every year. But growing up we would get drawn maybe every other year or every third year. During hunting season we would travel to our units that we tried to drawn in. And driving around and seeing the hunters that are mostly from out of state. Last year when I traveled with a neighbor for a hunt, we were the only hunters in the area that were from the state of NM. Colorado, Michigan, Virginia, Utah and Texas were some of the vehicles we saw driving around the Unit we were in. I know people that have only hunted two or three times in their lifetime and they are in their 40's. Something is wrong in the system."

  • Devin Houser

    "I am a New Mexico resident, father, and veteran once again seeing red. My favorite part of New Mexico is what makes it unique, particularly our vast public lands and wildlife. For me and my family, hunting is not a recreational activity. Hunting is a the way we feed ourselves healthy, humanely sourced meat. It provides lessons in life and death, botony, biology, self discipline, and ethics. It is our connection to the natural world, invalueable and irreplaceable by other means."

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