New Mexico · Deer · bow only
New Mexico deer hunt DER-2-205
Unit 17. 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 75 licences on hunt code DER-2-205 in 2026 and issued 75 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 16 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 3 drew it, 18.75%; 158 resident applicants ranked it first and 26 drew it, 16.46%; 7 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 3 drew it, 42.86%.
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 | 158 | 26 | 16.46% | 376 | 63 | 84% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 16 | 3 | 18.75% | 25 | 5 | 6.67% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 7 | 3 | 42.86% | 19 | 7 | 9.33% |
| 2025 | Resident | 172 | 32 | 18.60% | 409 | 63 | 84% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 23 | 5 | 21.74% | 52 | 5 | 6.67% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 24 | 4 | 16.67% | 36 | 7 | 9.33% |
| 2024 | Resident | 183 | 45 | 24.59% | 408 | 63 | 84% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 19 | 2 | 10.53% | 54 | 5 | 6.67% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 10 | 2 | 20.00% | 42 | 7 | 9.33% |
| 2023 | Resident | 190 | 33 | 17.37% | 464 | 63 | 84% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 19 | 2 | 10.53% | 64 | 5 | 6.67% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 11 | 4 | 36.36% | 17 | 7 | 9.33% |
| 2022 | Resident | 46 | 18 | 39.13% | 180 | 34 | 85% |
| 2022 | Nonresident | 7 | 1 | 14.29% | 19 | 2 | 5% |
| 2022 | Guided (outfitter) | 7 | 4 | 57.14% | 13 | 4 | 10% |
| 2021 | Resident | 45 | 16 | 35.56% | 140 | 36 | 90% |
| 2021 | Nonresident | 3 | 1 | 33.33% | 11 | 2 | 5% |
| 2021 | Guided (outfitter) | 1 | 1 | 100.00% | 4 | 2 | 5% |
| 2020 | Resident | 31 | 8 | 25.81% | 149 | 37 | 92.5% |
| 2020 | Nonresident | 3 | 2 | 66.67% | 5 | 2 | 5% |
| 2020 | Guided (outfitter) | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 1 | 2.5% |
| 2019 | Resident | 31 | 14 | 45.16% | 116 | 35 | — |
| 2019 | Nonresident | 3 | 0 | 0.00% | 7 | 2 | — |
| 2019 | Guided (outfitter) | 1 | 1 | 100.00% | 3 | 3 | — |
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 | 75 | 75 | 181 | 601 |
| 2025 | 75 | 75 | 219 | 716 |
| 2024 | 75 | 75 | 212 | 716 |
| 2023 | 75 | 75 | 220 | 765 |
| 2022 | 40 | 40 | 60 | 272 |
| 2021 | 40 | 40 | 49 | 204 |
| 2020 | 40 | 40 | 34 | 189 |
| 2019 | 40 | 40 | 35 | 161 |
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
- 2022-Complete-Report.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2022-04-12, fetched 2026-08-31
- 2021-Big-Game-Drawing-Odds-Complete-Report.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2021-04-14, fetched 2026-08-31
- 2020-Drawing-Odds-Complete-Report.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2020-08-03, fetched 2026-08-31
- 2019-Drawing-Odds-Complete-Report.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2019-06-26, fetched 2026-08-31