New Mexico Deer — GMU 28

New Mexico GMU 28 covers 678,822 acres and lies 39 miles south of Alamogordo and 51 miles east of Las Cruces. 100% of it is public land, mostly BLM (94%) and military (6%). In 2022, 38 people hunted deer here and took 11 — 27% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 2 tags here for 35 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):8 Nonresident share:capped at 6% Applicants:73 Hunter success (2022):27% Public land:100% Size:678,822 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in GMU 28, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

No points in this draw — every nonresident applicant has the same chance.

4 licenses on offer · 8 tags · 73 applicants in the 2026 draw

Chances are from the 2026 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level
  • DER-1-287 Unit 28: McGregor range only — fork-antlered deer — Any Legal — Dec. 19-20 2 tags · 35 applicants · Standard
    3% Long shot 3% as 2nd choice
  • DER-1-287 Unit 28: McGregor range only — fork-antlered deer — Any Legal — Dec. 19-20 2 tags · 5 applicants · Outfitter
    20% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • DER-1-288 Unit 28: McGregor range only, military only — fork-antlered deer — Any Legal — Dec. 19-20 2 tags · 31 applicants · Standard
    3% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • DER-1-288 Unit 28: McGregor range only, military only — fork-antlered deer — Any Legal — Dec. 19-20 2 tags · 2 applicants · Outfitter
    100% Undersubscribed
What these columns mean
Your odds
the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2026 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
The badge
plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
As 2nd choice
New Mexico lets you name more than one hunt on the application. Miss on your first choice and you go into the pot for whatever tags are left, alongside everyone else's second choices. Points never help a lower choice, so this number is the same whatever you have banked — it is usually worth naming a hunt that goes undersubscribed.
Points needed
the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2026 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
Tags / applicants
tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.

What it costs to apply (2026 nonresident fees)

License Up front Gone if you miss If you draw
Standard license $492 $107 $502
Outfitter license $492 $107 $502

Application window: closes Mar 18, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

The country

Alamogordo Anthony Ruidoso Downs Carlsbad Hurley
GMU 28 within New Mexico
19 29 30 34 Alamogordo Anthony Las Cruces Sunland Park
GMU 28 and its neighbours
Zoomable USGS topo, aerial imagery and shaded relief, with the neighboring areas drawn on.

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Who owns the ground

  • BLM 636,174 ac · 94%
  • Department of Defense 42,157 ac · 6%
  • State trust land 32 ac · 0%
  • National Forest 19 ac · 0%
  • State land 2 ac · 0%

Source: BLM_Surface_Management_2023 (BLM New Mexico State Office Surface Management Agency layer)

How the hunting has gone

What New Mexico Department of Game and Fish publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast.

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2022 38 11 27%
2021 38 17 44%

What the agency says about the area

GMU 28: The Fort Bliss-McGregor Range Camp military reservation east of US 54, excluding that part of the Sacramento division of the Lincoln national forest lying within the McGregor range co-use area. McGregor Range: Is a portion of the Fort Bliss Military Reservation in GMU 28. McGregor Range public hunt area: That portion of the Fort Bliss Military Reservation lying north of NM 506...

Source: NM Game Management Units (NMDGF_Game_Management_Units_I_E__v2_WFL1), layer 0

Boundary: NM Game Management Units (NMDGF_Game_Management_Units_I_E__v2_WFL1), layer 0

Harvest: 2022-2023 Deer Harvest Report

Harvest: 2021-2022 Deer Harvest Report

How we compute draw odds · All New Mexico deer hunts