Application Strategy 2024: New Mexico elk and antelope

NEW MEXICO'S 2024 ELK AND ANTELOPE APPLICATION OVERVIEW

Note: The online application deadline for New Mexico Barbary sheep, bighorn sheep, deer, elk, ibex, javelina, antelope and oryx is March 20, 2024 by 5 p.m. MT. Apply online here.

New Or Noteworthy For This Year

State Information

View important information and an overview of the New Mexico rules/regulations, the draw system, permit and license fees and an interactive boundary line map on our State Profile. You can also view the species profiles to access historical and statistical data to help you find trophy areas.

IMPORTANT DATES AND INFORMATION

A few years ago, New Mexico made an adjustment to their license allocation to guarantee that 84% of the licenses for each hunt goes to resident applicants. This change has continued to cause some confusion for applicants in knowing how many total permits must be available to offer one to a nonresident in the regular draw and the guide draw. 

Use the table below to cross reference with the total number of licenses to ensure the hunts you are applying for will have enough licenses. Every year, we see a good number of applicants who apply for hunts that have no nonresident licenses available. In essence, those nonresidents are wasting that chance to draw a tag. Nonresidents should not apply for hunts that they have no chance to draw!

THE CURRENT DROUGHT/MOISTURE STATUS IN NEW MEXICO

2024

---

2023

---

2022

---

2021

---

New Mexico had a very good moisture year in 2023 and the quality of bulls harvested this past fall reflects that. Similar to Arizona, antler growth in New Mexico is tied much more closely to moisture that produces quality feed than it is in more northerly states. On good moisture years, antler growth is noticeable better. If you can tie multiple years of good moisture, the impact is even better. To that point, 2023 was a great growth year and elk going into this winter should be in good body condition. Current winter conditions are not as good as they were last year, but it’s still relatively early. The bulk of elk habitat in New Mexico is in the northern half of the state and, currently, that portion of the state is in severe to moderately dry conditions. It’s too early to make a definitive statement about how the antler growth will be in the fall of 2024; however, I believe it will be good, but likely not as good as it was in 2023. Yet, compared to 2021 and 2022, it will be better than those years, which were definitely down years for antler growth.

THE NEW MEXICO DRAW SYSTEM

New Mexico has a random draw system for all species. There is no preference or bonus point system. This means that every applicant is on an equal playing field to draw — even if this is the first year they are applying in New Mexico.

The highest hurdle for applicants in New Mexico is that they must purchase a nonrefundable $65 hunting license and front the cost of the hunt that you apply for. For example, if you were to apply for a 16A second season archery elk permit as your first choice, you will need to pay the $65 hunting license fee and the $760 high quality/high demand permit. There are also some application and vendor fees. 

STANDARD, HIGH QUALITY, HIGH DEMAND

New Mexico lists each hunt as either a standard, high demand, quality or, in some cases, quality/high demand. A quality hunt is one that the state manages for better trophy potential and typically less hunting pressure. A high demand hunt is a hunt where the total number of applicants for an elk hunt exceeds 22% of the total applicants based on the draw for the prior two years. The standard hunts are typically lower quality, opportunity type hunts, but the cost is lower for the license. The cost for the quality, high demand and quality/high demand hunts is higher than it is for the standard license.

NONRESIDENT/RESIDENT PERMIT SPLITS

There are three pools of permits: the resident pool, the nonresident pool and the guided pool. Residents are guaranteed 84% of the permits for each hunt. Nonresidents can draw up to 6% of the permits for each hunt. Up to 10% of the permits for each hunt are allocated to applicants through the draw who have a signed agreement with a guide/outfitter. Both residents and nonresidents can apply with a guide and be considered to draw from the guide pool of permits. Once you have an agreement with a guide, you will apply in the draw with their guide number. If you enter the draw with a guide/outfitter and draw a permit, you are required to hunt in the field with that guide for a minimum of two days. The draw odds are typically better for applicants applying with an outfitter. If you can afford a guided hunt in New Mexico, applying with a guide is a great way to improve your chances of drawing a permit.

The total number of permits for each hunt should be considered before applying. As indicated in the table above, there are minimum numbers of permits required for nonresidents to have a chance to draw. Make sure that there are enough permits for the hunts you apply for to offer you a chance in the draw. Every year, nonresident applicants apply for hunts that they have no chance to draw because there are not enough total permits. Do not be that applicant! 

HUNT CHOICES

New Mexico allows applicants to include up to five hunt choices when they apply. In the draw, they will consider your first three choices before moving to the next applicant. 

To further explain: once your application is considered, they will attempt to allocate your first hunt choice. If there are no licenses remaining for that choice, then they will then consider your second choice. If there are no licenses remaining for your second choice, then they will then consider your third choice. If there are no licenses remaining for the third choice, they will then move to the next application. Fourth and fifth choices are only considered if there are leftover permits after every application has been considered in the draw. 

If you include a fourth and fifth choice, applicants are agreeing to accept any leftover license, which means that they may allocate you a license that was not your fourth and fifth choice. We highly recommend that you do not include fourth and fifth choices unless you are willing to accept any leftover license.

HUNT CHOICE STRATEGY 

Because of the way New Mexico conducts their draw there is some strategy in how you stagger your hunt choices. First, applicants should apply for a hunt for their first, second and third choice on their application. All of those choices matter and will be considered in the draw. Second, we recommend that you apply with the best hunt (worst odds) as your first choice and then select progressively better odds (average hunts) as your second and third choices. The reasoning behind this strategy is that, with a random draw, you never know what position your application will be in the draw. Your application could be one of the first selected in the draw and, as such, you want to receive the best permit/hunt possible. If your first hunt choice had better odds than your second and third choice, you are essentially wasting those choices.

NEW MEXICO GOHUNT DRAW ODDS

We regularly get asked how we calculate draw odds. To calculate draw odds in New Mexico we obtain the draw data, including applicants’ first, second and third choices and we use that information and software to simulate the draw hundreds of thousands of times. By doing so, we generate the odds of drawing any given hunt as any of your first three hunt choices. Remember that New Mexico will consider each applicant's first, second and third hunt choice before moving to the next applicant and you can draw any of those three choices. With the draw odds displayed for each hunt, applicants can use those to make their choices, staggering them from one to three with the best hunt (worse odds) as your first choice to good hunt (better odds) as your third choice.

PARTY APPLICATIONS

Up to four applicants can apply as a party for elk and antelope. Nonresidents and residents can apply together in a party. A party application is treated as a single application in the draw. If selected, all applicants on the application would receive a license provided there are enough licenses to offer one to each applicant. New Mexico will not over allocate the license quota to cover a group application. In the case that residents and nonresidents apply together, nonresident licenses are pulled from the nonresident quota. When applying as a party, one applicant will apply first and, upon completing the process, will receive a party application number. The rest of the party will then select “attach to an existing application” and then enter the application code. 

There is no odds advantage to applying as a party. In fact, there may be a slight disadvantage. For example, if an application with two people is drawn and there is only one license remaining, then that application will be rejected or if a nonresident and a resident apply together and there are not enough nonresident licenses, neither the resident or nonresident will be given a license.

New Mexico's 2024 Elk Breakdown

New Mexico has become one of my favorite elk states. As a nonresident, it’s not that I draw every year that I apply, but the permits I have drawn have offered really good hunts. I also appreciate the fact that the draw is truly random with no point systems. In addition, I like that New Mexico offers applicants the opportunity to include three hunt choices and they consider all of those before they move to the next applicant. Having played the game of applying for tags in the West for decades, I have grown to really like a completely random draw system with multiple hunt choices. 

As previously noted, the antler growth in 2023 was exceptional. This year is starting off a lot drier than last year, but elk going into this winter season would have been in good body condition. Early antler growth should be good due to the fact that bulls will not need to replace significant declines in body condition and can pour the nutrients into good antler growth. New Mexico does a good job in offering several types of seasons for archery, muzzleloader and rifle hunters. They offer two archery seasons in most units and, in some cases, they also offer a late season archery hunt although those are only five days and can be very difficult with generally low harvest success rates in some units. The early archery season runs from Sept. 1 to 14. The second archery season runs from Sept. 15 to 24. The first archery season occurs mostly prior to the prime rut dates, but ambush hunting on water can be effective as can spot and stalk hunting and calling towards the end of those dates. Looking at harvest statistics, most early archery hunts have success rates that are within 10% and, in a lot of cases, the harvest success is better on the first archery hunt than the second. Long story short: the early archery hunts typically have slightly better draw odds and the chance at success is often on par with the more prime rut date hunts. 

The second archery season provides a good rut hunt as can some of the early October muzzleloader and rifle hunts. Overall, New Mexico is a must apply elk state for us and we highly suggest you do your research and plan to apply in 2024. 

The units above represent the best options in terms of quality, but there are many more hunts to choose from — many of which have slightly better odds. The table below indicates some of the better mid-tier hunts with generally better odds that can still offer a good hunt.

Managing expectations

New Mexico offers more hunts than were covered in the tables above. Those that were not covered are tough hunts based on the limited amount of public land and low, scattered elk populations. Insider’s Filtering, Draw Odds and unit profiles are key to finding the best opportunities for you to apply in New Mexico. If you have the means to apply with a guide, the odds are better and we highly recommend utilizing that option if you can afford to do so. We cover the guide pool draw odds within your Insider account. Overall, New Mexico is a must apply elk state for us. Do your research, pick and include three hunt choices that match your objective and preferred season and plan to apply in New Mexico in 2024.

New Mexico's 2024 antelope breakdown

New Mexico has been a quality antelope state and it will continue to produce a number of 80”+ bucks every year. It does not offer many tags, but for the lucky hunters who draw tags, the opportunity for a great buck is quite good. New Mexico made some changes in their season dates in 2023 and those will continue into 2024. They offer an early archery hunt and some units offer an August rifle hunt while others offer a September and October rifle hunt as well. Notably, Unit 29 offers two muzzleloader hunts that are good. The early rifle hunts are your best bet for a quality buck and the draw odds generally reflect that with those hunts being hard to draw. The archery hunts reflect the best opportunity to draw, but harvest success is far from guaranteed. The best method of hunting antelope with a bow is sitting in a ground blind over a water source, but monsoonal rains in August are common to New Mexico and that will require hunters to utilize spot and stalk methods, which can be very challenging. All tags drawn in through the state draw are valid on public lands and on private lands where the tag holder can gain written permission to hunt. 

New Mexico offers unlimited over-the-counter (OTC) private land antelope tags. If someone can gain written permission to hunt private land, the hunter can simply walk into a NMDGF office or license vendor and buy the tag. Hunters can only hunt private property that they have obtained permission to hunt. Another option here is to book a hunt with an outfitter who has access to guide on private land. Once again, if you book a hunt with an outfitter who has access to private land, you can buy an OTC tag . If you plan to try to go the outfitted route, I would suggest you begin the research process and book your hunt as soon as possible. 

Below you will find our recommendations for the best DIY hunts that also offer good trophy potential. As you will see, the odds of drawing as a nonresident are extremely tough, but if you have already bought the hunting license to apply for other species I would recommend you apply for antelope as well. You should note that the number of tags are quite low for nonresidents and I would recommend that you do not apply as a group application because they will not overallocate their quotas to cover the entire group.

We also included a second table below of hunts that have better odds of drawing. The high hurdle with those areas is that public land can be very limited and a challenge to access. If you are considering one of those hunt areas, you should start your research as soon as possible and/or try to gain access permission to private property to hunt. These areas can be tough to tackle for the DIY hunters, but the odds of drawing are better.

Conclusion

Even though applicants have to front the cost of the tags they apply for and buy a hunting license to be able to apply, New Mexico is one of the more economical states in the West to apply in. If you plan to apply for all species, you’ll be required to float several thousand dollars, but if you want to pick and choose species like elk, deer, and antelope it’s one of the better deals and, if you are unsuccessful in the draw, the cost of the tag will be refunded quite quickly. In addition, New Mexico’s draw is completely random and all applications have an equal opportunity to draw. Finally, the trophy potential for elk and antelope is very good. Overall, New Mexico is truly a must apply state every year for me and I highly suggest you consider it as well.