New Mexico · Deer · bow only
New Mexico deer hunt DER-2-198
Unit 16. Bag limit fork-antlered deer (FAD). Of the people who ranked this hunt first, how many drew it — year by year, and separately for each of the three pools New Mexico draws. Every figure comes from a Department of Wildlife report linked at the foot of this page.
What the 2026 draw did
New Mexico offered 230 licences on hunt code DER-2-198 in 2026 and issued 230 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 45 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 10 drew it, 22.22%; 418 resident applicants ranked it first and 155 drew it, 37.08%; 15 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 14 drew it, 93.33%.
First-choice draw rate, by pool and year
| Year | Pool | Ranked it first | Drew on first choice | First-choice draw rate | Ranked it 2nd or 3rd | Licences to this pool | Share of the quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Resident | 418 | 155 | 37.08% | 440 | 196 | 85.22% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 45 | 10 | 22.22% | 48 | 13 | 5.65% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 15 | 14 | 93.33% | 12 | 21 | 9.13% |
| 2025 | Resident | 409 | 144 | 35.21% | 511 | 194 | 84.35% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 56 | 11 | 19.64% | 75 | 13 | 5.65% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 32 | 19 | 59.38% | 9 | 23 | 10% |
| 2024 | Resident | 358 | 136 | 37.99% | 455 | 194 | 84.35% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 53 | 12 | 22.64% | 46 | 13 | 5.65% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 12 | 10 | 83.33% | 15 | 23 | 10% |
| 2023 | Resident | 369 | 151 | 40.92% | 465 | 211 | 91.74% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 47 | 8 | 17.02% | 51 | 13 | 5.65% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 6 | 6 | 100.00% | 5 | 6 | 2.61% |
Share of the quota is the department's own R% / NR% / O% column: this pool's share of the licences offered. It is an allocation split set by state law — a minimum of 84% resident, 10% outfitted, 6% nonresident — and not a chance of drawing. It reads 100% on any hunt residents took in full. It is shown because the department publishes it and a reader will meet it elsewhere, not because it answers the question this page is about.
The first-choice draw rate, year by year
One strip per pool, because the three are drawn separately under different shares and a single averaged line would hide the only distinction most readers are here for. Each figure is a record of what that year's draw did. None of it forecasts the next one.
Rounded to whole percentages here; the table above carries them to two decimals. A dash means nobody in that pool ranked this hunt first that year.
Licences offered against licences issued
These are different numbers and the department publishes both. A hunt can fail to fill, and 35 of the 893 hunts in the 2026 report did.
| Year | Licences offered | Licences issued | Applicants who ranked it first | Applicants in total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 230 | 230 | 478 | 978 |
| 2025 | 230 | 230 | 497 | 1,092 |
| 2024 | 230 | 230 | 423 | 939 |
| 2023 | 230 | 230 | 422 | 943 |
Applicants in total counts everyone who ranked this hunt anywhere in their three choices, across all three pools. It is a measure of demand, not of competition for a first-choice licence.
Sources for this hunt
- 2026CompleteReport.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2026-04-13, fetched 2026-08-31
- 2025CompleteReport.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2025-04-09, fetched 2026-08-31
- 2024CompleteReport.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2024-04-09, fetched 2026-08-31
- 2023-odds_corrected_CN.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2023-04-11, fetched 2026-08-31