New Mexico's 2025 legislature created a nonresident shed hunter license — Senate Bill 5, signed March 20, 2025 — with a $200 fee that takes effect April 1, 2026, the start of the license year. The enacted bill text itself exempts residents. Standing rules under NMAC 19.31.10: sheds collected in violation of a land closure, trespass law, or while driving off established roads become state property and can be seized, and driving off-road on public land to search for sheds is itself illegal. No dated seasonal closure is set in that rule.
LAST CHECKED August 29, 2026 · RULES CHANGE — CONFIRM WITH NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND FISH (NMDGF) BEFORE YOU HEAD OUT.
Set by: New Mexico Department of Game and Fish / State Game Commission, NMAC 19.31.10
NMDGF took public comment in July 2025 on the operational details — the widely reported 'more than two antlers' trigger and $325 penalty appear in news coverage quoting the department but are NOT in the enacted statute; they're expected to come from this implementing rule.
CWD has been documented in free-ranging deer or elk in 3 counties as of May 2026.
Dona Ana · Otero · Socorro
SOURCE: USGS NATIONAL WILDLIFE HEALTH CENTER — CWD DISTRIBUTION BY STATE AND COUNTY, VER. 4.0 (AUG 2026).
8 elk · 8 mule deer · 1 pronghorn — migration corridors, stopovers, and winter ranges mapped from GPS-collared animals and published by the USGS Corridor Mapping Team with the state agency.
SOURCE: USGS — UNGULATE MIGRATIONS OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, VOLS. 1–6
Every state reports these numbers to the federal government on the same terms, so they compare cleanly across states. A license holder is a person — one hunter can buy several licenses or tags in a season.
SOURCE: U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE — HUNTING LICENSE CERTIFICATIONS. FEDERAL DATA RUNS TWO YEARS BEHIND; 2024 IS THE MOST RECENT SALES YEAR PUBLISHED.
THE 'MORE THAN TWO ANTLERS' THRESHOLD AND $325 PENALTY ARE UNCONFIRMED AGAINST PRIMARY SOURCES — TREAT THE $200 LICENSE ITSELF AS THE VERIFIED FACT.