New Mexico

New Mexico uses a pure random draw with no preference or bonus points. Every applicant has an equal shot each year, regardless of past history.

Our projections draw on five years of official draw data (2021-2025) with more weight given to recent seasons (2025 at 45%, down to 2021 at 5%). For hunts that show a consistent multi-year decline, we project that decline forward rather than diluting it with older, more favorable numbers. For newer hunt codes with only one or two years of history, we use those values directly and mark them with lower confidence.

New Mexico has many multi-unit hunts where a single application covers several game management units at once. We preserve this structure carefully so that the odds shown for each unit correctly reflect the shared applicant pool.

We also handle situations where historical data uses an older unit name — for example, 'Unit 2' — but the current draw has split that area into sub-units like 2A, 2B, and 2C. In those cases, we carry the historical odds forward to the new unit designations so applicants still see relevant projections.

Projections cover twelve species including elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep (Rocky Mountain and desert), oryx, ibex, barbary sheep, javelina, and bear.