No wonder I can't draw New Mexico elk tag...

[mavinwa2]

Back in the late 1980's to 1995, hunted NM elk every 2-3 years as a non-resident/NR. 2026 was my 17th consecutive year of NOT drawing an archery elk tag. Always apply as NR, DIY which puts me into the "up to" 6% of available tag allotment.
As DIY, my expenses are mostly license fees, gas and groceries. I drive with my camp/hunt gear to hunt the states WA-resident, AZ, ID, CO, NM, UT. Since retired in 2021, I usually hunt deer, elk in 4 states per seasons during Mid-August thru December, AZ in January.

Rec'd my 2026 New Mexico Outdoors magazine. A publication from the New Mexico Outfitters & Guide Association.
Reading through I find some interesting numbers, facts and verification by NMFG.
I will just focus on the 2024 elk non-resident hunter numbers only.

Total Spending by Guided Non-Resident Hunters 10% Pool
Outfitter Fees/Tips: $96.1M ( $96,074,737 Million Dollars )
Elk Trip Related Expenses: $18.7 Million
Add Equipment, Repair/other services
TOTAL: $125,939,912 Million

Total Spending by guided NR Hunters for E-Plus tag program, Land Owner tags included.
License fees paid to state of NM: $5.8 Million
Fees Land Owner E-Plus Permits: $30.1 Million
Gross Receipt Taxes paid by outfitters to state of NM: $6.4M
E-Plus Program Total: $43.1 Million

Total Spending by Guided Non-Resident Hunters, 10% Pool & E-plus/Landowner Combine: $169.1 Million

No wonder I can't draw a "...up to..." elk tag in the DIY 6% Draw. Which according to NMFG, actually averages 4.75%, not 6%.
That other 1.25% taken in the resident draw.
With the basic hunting license fee not refundable the past 2 years, hard to keep justifying applying in the DIY applicant pool of tags.
However, the memory of hunting elk nirvana in the 1980-1990's keeps me applying, if not to just get back there one more time with bow in hand. Just one more NM elk tag and I'm done with this nonsense of NM.

 

[mavinwa2]

Talking with a couple NM friends, their wish as residents are 95% tags with 5% tags for non-residents.
Heck, they'd settle for 90% of tags for residents and 10% non-residents but eliminate the 10% Outfitter pool entirely.
E-Plus program they are split opinion whether to keep as is, modify or eliminate entirely.

They know their wishes are but a pipe dream, never happen because of the dollars. And will continue to take it up the arse as money rules.
But they agree on this, New Mexico leads the way in Pay-2-Play for hunting elk.

 

[Legend]

Pay 2 play = end of public hunting for the average (not wealthy)

Thanks for sharing the finances, it is easy to see how landowners and government gets addicted to that kind of cash.

 

[LCguy]

Resident here. The solution I think works is 90/10 split. Keep EPLUS but make tags transferable only one time. No selling to Outfitters who can then sell them again. Also ALL EPLUS open to public hunting, not just unit wide tag ranches

EPLUS has its flaws but there's no doubt that it DOES open habitat. Heck, I killed my bull on EPLUS this year.

A lot of New Mexico residents also suck at applying. I can draw a deer tag every year and an elk tag 4 out of 5 years. Are some of those cow tags? Sure. But it sure beats not hunting.

 

[BBob]

Plus outfitter scams

New Mexico Hunting Guides Charged in Scheme to Sell Elk Tags to Out-of-Staters

Three New Mexico men have been charged with running a scheme where they would fraudulently obtain and sell resident elk tags to nonresidents.

www.outdoorlife.com

 

[MallardSX2]

80R/20NR and eliminate all landowner tags and guide tags seems fair.......

 

[jgilber5]

As a resident, I wouldn't mind seeing E-plus go. I would be concerned though if we just axed it without a new plan for access and habitat incentives.
Then again... maybe landowners should just charge massive trespass and fees. People will certainly pay them.

 

[elkocd]

I remember the good old days of drawing tags all over... Hunted WY eight times in ten years, back when you could draw a general tag as a second choice in the special, mixed in with some LE tags. Drew UT elk with five points. My dad drew UT with seven and shot a 375 bull! I drew NV elk with three points and a NV 231 deer tag with four. Had one of the best elk hunts ever with my son when we drew NM 34 archery elk together.

The good old days of somewhat easy tags are gone. Too many folks applying all over. That's why I moved to WY—so I can have a great hunt every year and still shoot for the moon in states like NM. NM is still pretty cheap, kind of like a lottery ticket, but if I get to hunt there one more time it's probably all I can expect as a non-resident. I remember not all that long ago talking to a guy on the forums about being able to buy a NM Unit 34 landowner elk tag for $2,000. My, how times have changed.

It now takes a lot of research, but I can tell you there are still tags out there that can be had every two or three years—ones no one is talking about, but that are absolute diamonds!