More than 290,000 people applied for New Mexico big game tags this year, but only about one in five won a draw. Around 230,000 applicants did not draw tags and now must try again next year or pay for private access to hunt.

Hunters and guides say the experience of hunting is being lost in the debate over tag distribution. “I feel like there should be a chase for quality,” one hunter said while on a hunt with Cole Johnson. “Whether it’s a quality animal, or a quality experience.”

Cole Johnson, who runs Black Horn Guide Service in Artesia, said time in camp and with family matters. He also criticized how the draw works. “It’s almost like a welfare system for outfitters,” Johnson said.

By law, 84% of public draw tags are supposed to go to New Mexico residents. Another 10% are set aside for outfitter bookings, and 6% are for nonresidents. But a separate system called EPLUS issues private land tags outside of those limits.

A 2020 Legislative Finance Committee report found many of those private land tags end up with out-of-state hunters. The report said roughly three-quarters of private land elk tags were ultimately used by out-of-state hunters. “The system is rigged against New Mexico residents,” said Jesse Deubel with the New Mexico Wildlife Federation.

Deubel’s group found New Mexicans receive closer to two-thirds of total elk tags in recent seasons, not the 84% many expect. “It’s a lifestyle, it’s a tradition,” Deubel said. “But we’re losing it because New Mexicans cannot draw tags.”

Industry voices defend the current setup as an economic tool. “It’s a business incentive,” said Kerrie Romero, the executive director of the New Mexico Council of Outfitters & Guides. “Lots of other industries have business incentives, the film industry has various incentives… And that’s what the outfitter [set-aside] pool is.” Nonresident hunters pay higher fees, and advocates say that spending helps rural economies. Some private land elk tags also sell for $15,000 to $20,000, Johnson said.

Even inside the outfitting community, opinions vary. “I always thought it was kind of funny,” Johnson said, “Because it’s like a lot of the people that are outfitters, or rooting for the outfitter pool, are very much like, ‘Oh, we hate welfare.’ But I’m like, ‘You’re very tied into, and involved with… a welfare program that’s taking place.’”

Changes are coming to how wildlife decisions are made. A 2025 law reduces the governor’s power over the State Game Commission. The body will be renamed the State Wildlife Commission and face a full overhaul starting Jan. 1, 2027. “Certainly, we do hear the concerns of the public at-large and are willing to listen to their input,” said Darren Vaughan, New Mexico Game and Fish communication director. “If they push hard enough and the legislature decides to take steps to change that – then certainly we will abide by whatever the legislature requires us to do.”

The debate is likely to continue as the commission changes take effect. Hunters, outfitters, landowners and lawmakers will all weigh in. The outcome could reshape who gets access to New Mexico’s big game hunts in the years ahead.