Northwest New Mexico: hunting units, public land and hunts
NMDOW's northwest quadrant holds 18 game management units (1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3, 4, 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B, 6C, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14), 16,881,119 acres of which 30.4% is public land, mostly BLM (BLM New Mexico land status map, 2026). NMDOW's 2026-27 booklet lists 194 hunt codes valid in these units, including 5,161 elk and 3,670 deer draw licenses for hunts inside the quadrant.
Data updated October 2026. Quadrants: NMDOW's 2026-27 booklet, page 52. Hunts: the same booklet. Land: BLM New Mexico, 2026-10.
NMDOW's northwest quadrant runs from the San Juan Basin south past Mount Taylor and the Jemez Mountains. Much of it is tribal land (the Navajo Nation, the Jicarilla Apache Nation and the pueblos), which is why its public share is lower than the south's. It holds the Edward Sargent, Humphries and Rio Chama WMAs near Chama (Unit 4), the Marquez/L-Bar WMA (Unit 9) and the Valles Caldera National Preserve (Unit 6B), where NMDOW holds elk hunts.
Which units are in Northwest New Mexico?
All 18 units, with public land and the number of 2026-27 hunt codes for each species. The most public land: Unit 6B (99.9%), Unit 2C (89.8%) and Unit 2B (84.8%). The most elk hunt codes: Unit 4 (15), Unit 6B (15) and Unit 9 (11).
| Unit | Square miles | Public land | Largest public manager | Tribal land | Elk codes | Deer codes | Pronghorn codes | Other big game codes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | 3,911 | 0% | 99.8% | |||||
| Unit 2A | 783 | 65.9% | BLM | 6 | 6 | 3 | ||
| Unit 2B | 746 | 84.8% | BLM | 6 | 11 | 3 | ||
| Unit 2C | 807 | 89.8% | BLM | 4.9% | 7 | 3 | 3 | |
| Unit 3 | 1,320 | 0.2% | 99.6% | |||||
| Unit 4 | 693 | 11.7% | Wildlife Commission land | 8.1% | 15 | 6 | 4 | |
| Unit 5A | 229 | 16.3% | BLM | 10 | 3 | |||
| Unit 5B | 414 | 81% | National forest | 10 | 4 | |||
| Unit 6A | 1,321 | 47.8% | National forest | 43% | 8 | 4 | 1 | |
| Unit 6B | 139 | 99.9% | National Park Service | 15 | ||||
| Unit 6C | 1,215 | 53.4% | National forest | 20.3% | 9 | 4 | 1 | |
| Unit 7 | 3,421 | 36% | BLM | 49.3% | 5 | 4 | 3 | |
| Unit 8 | 922 | 16.1% | National forest | 10.8% | 6 | 2 | ||
| Unit 9 | 3,328 | 26.7% | BLM | 28.4% | 11 | 6 | 3 | |
| Unit 10 | 2,242 | 31.2% | National forest | 44% | 7 | 7 | 3 | |
| Unit 11 | 639 | 0% | 99.7% | |||||
| Unit 12 | 2,590 | 38.8% | BLM | 8.8% | 10 | 3 | 5 | |
| Unit 14 | 1,656 | 17% | National forest | 11.7% | 1 | 4 | 4 |
Quadrants: NMDOW 2026-27 Hunting Rules and Information, page 52 (units the booklet does not list are placed by NMDOW's officer districts). Hunts: NMDOW 2026-27 Hunting Rules and Information. Land measured by FilledTag from the BLM New Mexico surface management agency map (read 2026-10).
How much public land is in Northwest New Mexico?
| Manager | Acres | Share of the quadrant |
|---|---|---|
| Tribal land | 6,979,651 | 41.3% |
| BLM | 2,331,628 | 13.8% |
| National forest | 1,811,974 | 10.7% |
| State trust land | 735,564 | 4.4% |
| National Park Service | 165,807 | 1% |
| Wildlife Commission land | 123,731 | 0.7% |
| Military land | 51,515 | 0.3% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 31,697 | 0.2% |
| Other federal (closed) | 25,652 | 0.2% |
| State park | 18,408 | 0.1% |
| National wildlife refuge | 582 | under 0.1% |
Commission lands open to hunting here: Edward Sargent WMA (20,057 acres), Marquez/L-Bar WMA (68,259 acres), W.A. Humphries WMA (11,078 acres), Rio Chama WMA (13,080 acres), Water Canyon WMA (2,844 acres), Bernardo WMA (1,804 acres) and Jackson Lake WMA (1,776 acres).
Which species pages cover Northwest New Mexico?
Elk: Units 2A, 2B and 2C, Unit 4, Unit 5A, Unit 5B, Unit 6A, Unit 6B, Unit 6C, Unit 7, Unit 9, Unit 10, Unit 12. Deer: Unit 2A, Unit 2B, Unit 2C, Unit 4, Unit 5A, Unit 5B, Units 6A and 6C, Unit 7, Unit 8, Unit 9, Unit 10, Unit 12, Unit 14. Pronghorn: Units 2A, 2B, 2C, 7, 9 and 10, Unit 4, Units 8 and 43, Unit 12, Unit 14.
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