Exposing the Truth About Elk Hunting License Allocation in New Mexico

In 2022, the New Mexico Wildlife Federation (NMWF) and New Mexico Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) released a groundbreaking report titled “Take Back Your Elk.” Looking at data from the 2020-21 elk season, the report documented for the first time exactly how New Mexico’s system of allocating elk licenses benefits wealthy nonresidents and private interests at the expense of state residents.

Now the NMWF, NMBHA, HECHO and HOC have obtained information about the allocation of elk licenses in the 2022-23 elk season. The new results showed essentially no change since the first report on how the state allocates elk licenses.

The 2024 report shows that the same issues outlined in the inaugural 2022 Take Back Your Elk report still persist, demanding urgent attention and reform.

2024 Report

Click to View/Download PDF Version of the Report

Among the 2024 report’s findings are the following:

Continued Disproportionate Allocation: The EPLUS system allocates a substantial number of licenses directly to landowners, with over 75 percent of those ultimately going to nonresident hunters. Thousands of these licenses allow hunters who bought their tags from landowners to hunt on public land in the same game management unit, where they compete with hunters who were successful in the public draw. This raises concerns about fairness and equal access for resident hunters.

Outfitter Set-Aside: The report criticizes the state's unique "outfitter set-aside" law, which reserves 10 percent of public draw licenses for hunters who contract with outfitters. This system, unique among states in the West, allows wealthy hunters who can afford to contract with an outfitter to increase their odds of drawing a license substantially.

Persistent Lack of Accountability: Despite calls for transparency from legislators and conservation groups, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has not provided public reports on license distribution. Meanwhile, the department benefits from selling elk licenses to nonresidents who pay higher license fees.

The second Take Back Your Elk report was released by a coalition made up by New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting and the Outdoors, and Hunters of Color. It intensifies the call for immediate reforms to New Mexico's elk management system.

The groups are calling on all New Mexicans to contact their state legislators and ask them to support the following changes in state law:

• Ensure that resident hunting opportunity is a top priority for our state game commission and game department. Work toward wholesale reform of the state’s system of elk management.
• Specify that 100 percent of public land elk hunting opportunities be distributed through the public draw system.
• Repeal the “outfitter set-aside” that earmarks 10 percent of the licenses in the public draw to hunters who can afford to retain an outfitter.
  

Join the fight today. Sign up above to Take Back Your Elk.

In the Media

Media response to the Take Back Your Elk reports