New Mexico Deer · GMU 16
New Mexico GMU 16 spans 2,237,794 acres, centered 33 miles east of Reserve. 93% of it is public land, mostly national forest (67%) and state trust land (18%). In 2025, 1,200 people hunted deer here and took 397, a 33% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, DER-1-194, put up 18 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 199 nonresident first-choice applicants, 16 of whom drew.
No points in this draw. Every applicant has the same chance each year.
14 licenses · NR capped at 6%
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
73% Forest Service
2,237,794 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Best Bets
Ranked by your odds times how often that license type's hunters filled their tag in 2025. Nonresident, first choice, 2026 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.
- Success
- 33%
- Season
- Nov 14–18
- Tags / Apps
- 30 / 17
- If Drawn
- $502
- Success
- 33%
- Season
- Sep 1–24
- Tags / Apps
- 21 / 15
- If Drawn
- $502
- Success
- 33%
- Season
- Jan 1–15
- Tags / Apps
- 17 / 9
- If Drawn
- $502
- Success
- 33%
- Season
- Oct 31 – Nov 4
- Tags / Apps
- 12 / 3
- If Drawn
- $502
Every License in GMU 16
| What | Season | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| DER-1-194 Standard | Unit 16 — fork-antlered deer — Any Legal — Nov. 7-11 | 8% | |
| DER-1-194 Outfitter | Unit 16 — fork-antlered deer — Any Legal — Nov. 7-11 | 31% | |
| DER-1-195 Standard · hunters | Unit 16: mobility impaired only — fork-antlered deer — Any Legal - Mobility — Nov. 14-18 | 20% (small sample) | |
| DER-1-195 Outfitter · hunters | Unit 16: mobility impaired only — fork-antlered deer — Any Legal - Mobility — Nov. 14-18 | 100% (small sample) | |
| DER-1-196 Standard | Unit 16 — fork-antlered deer — Any Legal — Nov. 14-18 | 10% | |
| DER-1-196 Outfitter | Unit 16 — fork-antlered deer — Any Legal — Nov. 14-18 | 100% | |
| DER-1-197 Standard · youth | Unit 16: youth only — fork-antlered deer — Any Legal - Youth — Nov. 21-29 | 11% | |
| DER-1-197 Outfitter · youth | Unit 16: youth only — fork-antlered deer — Any Legal - Youth — Nov. 21-29 | 100% | |
| DER-2-198 Standard | Unit 16 — fork-antlered deer — Bow — Sept. 1-24 | 22% | |
| DER-2-198 Outfitter | Unit 16 — fork-antlered deer — Bow — Sept. 1-24 | 100% | |
| DER-2-199 Standard | Unit 16 — fork-antlered deer — Bow — Jan. 1-15, ‘27 | 13% | |
| DER-2-199 Outfitter | Unit 16 — fork-antlered deer — Bow — Jan. 1-15, ‘27 | 100% | |
| DER-3-200 Standard | Unit 16 — fork-antlered deer — Muzzle — Oct. 31-Nov.4 | 16% | |
| DER-3-200 Outfitter | Unit 16 — fork-antlered deer — Muzzle — Oct. 31-Nov.4 | 100% |
First-choice nonresident odds, 2026 draw. No points in this draw: every applicant has the same chance.
Draw results: NMDGF 2026 Big Game Drawing Odds Complete Report, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.
If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): Standard $502 ($492 to apply) · Outfitter $502 ($492 to apply). Closes Mar 17, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,200 | 397 | 33% |
| 2024 | 1,213 | 364 | 30% |
| 2023 | 1,213 | 318 | 26% |
| 2022 | 1,204 | 294 | 24% |
| 2021 | 1,213 | 290 | 24% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reg · muzzleloader · 299 licenses | 251 | 68 | 27% |
| Reg · rifle · 13 licenses (hunt 2 of 2) | 8 | 5 | 67% |
| Reg · rifle · 13 licenses (hunt 1 of 2) | 9 | 3 | 33% |
| Youth · 3 licenses | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| Reg · archery · 7 licenses | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| Reg · archery · 3 licenses | 3 | 2 | 50% |
| Reg · muzzleloader · 2 licenses | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| Reg · rifle · 80 licenses (hunt 1 of 2) | 74 | 38 | 51% |
| Reg · rifle · 80 licenses (hunt 2 of 2) | 66 | 24 | 36% |
| Youth · 80 licenses | 72 | 44 | 62% |
| Reg · archery · 75 licenses (hunt 2 of 2) | 62 | 15 | 25% |
| Reg · archery · 75 licenses (hunt 1 of 2) | 67 | 11 | 16% |
2025 split: muzzleloader 70 (33%) from 253 hunters, 28%, rifle 114 (54%) from 232 hunters, 49%, archery 28 (13%) from 136 hunters, 21%
What New Mexico Department of Game and Fish publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. Source: NMDGF 2025-2026 Deer Harvest Report; NMDGF 2024-2025 Deer Harvest Report; NMDGF 2023-2024 Deer Harvest Report.
The Ground
| National Forest | 1,502,311 ac | 67% |
| State trust land | 399,769 ac | 18% |
| BLM | 166,567 ac | 7% |
| State land | 3,747 ac | <1% |
| Private or other non-public land | 165,398 ac | 7% |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Office 2023 BLM_Surface_Management_2023.
▸ Sources 10
- NMDGF 2026 Big Game Drawing Odds Complete Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- NMDGF 2026-2027 Draw Hunt License Fees / Draw… fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- NMDGF 2026-2027 Over-the-Counter License Fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- NMDGF 2025-2026 Deer Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- NMDGF 2024-2025 Deer Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- NMDGF 2023-2024 Deer Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- NMDGF 2022-2023 Deer Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- NMDGF 2021-2022 Deer Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- NMDGF 2026 NM Game Management Units, layer 0 boundary, area description, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Office 2023 BLM_Surface_Management_2023 land ownership, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
About These Numbers
Odds are from the 2026 draw, the latest on file, computed from New Mexico Department of Game and Fish's published results. They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward.
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We don't take applications: check New Mexico Department of Game and Fish's site and apply there.
Prior-draw odds from New Mexico Department of Game and Fish's results, not a forecast · All New Mexico deer hunts