By Kevin Hendricks
New Mexico hunters who keep striking out in the big game draw just got some fresh ammunition. Attorney General Raúl Torrez says the state law reserving 10% of draw licenses for hunters who hire outfitters violates the New Mexico Constitution.
Torrez concluded in a formal opinion dated Oct. 9 and released Tuesday that the “outfitter set-aside” breaks the Anti-Donation Clause. That clause bars the state from handing public property to private parties without fair return. Outfitters pay a $500 annual registration fee, the same whether they use the set-aside or not. In exchange, the industry brokers access to roughly 1,500 elk tags a year. The opinion values those tags at $15 million, about 100 times what outfitters pay in fees. The arrangement is “a donation in substance, whatever its form,” Torrez wrote.
Eighteen Democratic legislators requested the opinion. Rep. Nathan Small of Las Cruces, who chairs the Legislative Finance Committee, led the request. Small said the opinion confirms that New Mexicans “deserve fair access to hunting on our public lands.”
Resident hunters say the current split stacks the odds against them. Nonresidents drew 90.2% of outfitter set-aside elk licenses in the 2022-23 season, according to a 2024 New Mexico Wildlife Federation report cited in the opinion. Federation Executive Director Jesse Deubel said the goal now is to put more tags in residents’ hands.
Nothing changes for next season’s draw yet. AG opinions do not carry the force of law. A 2012 federal injunction also still binds the Department of Wildlife. That ruling stripped the requirements that individual outfitters invest in New Mexico and hire residents to qualify for the set-aside. Any fix likely runs through the Legislature, which convenes Jan. 19.
The opinion also questioned the department’s practice of combining bighorn sheep hunt units. That practice can push more sheep tags into the outfitter pool.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 102,653: Applicants for 22,783 elk tags in the 2025-26 draw
- 84 / 10 / 6: Percent of draw licenses by law for residents (minimum), the outfitter set-aside and unguided nonresidents
- 1,429 of 1,584: Outfitter set-aside elk tags nonresidents drew in 2022-23
- $500: Annual outfitter registration fee
- About 300: Registered outfitters in New Mexico
Get in the hunt:
- Read the AG opinion (No. 2026-12): nmdoj.gov
- See how the draw works and check drawing odds: wildlife.dgf.nm.gov/hunting/applications-and-draw-information/how-new-mexico-draw-works/
- Read the “Take Back Your Elk” report: takebackyourelk.com
- Find and contact your legislators before the session: nmlegis.gov
- The 2027 legislative session opens Jan. 19 in Santa Fe