Southwest New Mexico: hunting units, public land and hunts
NMDOW's southwest quadrant holds 19 game management units (13, 15, 16A, 16B, 16C, 16D, 16E, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21A, 21B, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27), 22,298,051 acres of which 57.6% is public land, mostly BLM (BLM New Mexico land status map, 2026). NMDOW's 2026-27 booklet lists 281 hunt codes valid in these units, including 7,091 elk and 10,680 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 southwest quadrant holds the Gila country, where national forest is the largest public land in Units 15, 16A to 16D, 21A, 22, 23 and 24, and the desert units along the Rio Grande and the Mexican border. Most of Unit 19 is military land, White Sands Missile Range among it, where NMDOW holds its oryx draw hunts, and the Florida Mountains in Unit 25 hold New Mexico's ibex hunts.
Which units are in Southwest New Mexico?
All 19 units, with public land and the number of 2026-27 hunt codes for each species. The most public land: Unit 16B (99.5%), Unit 21A (97.9%) and Unit 16A (97%). The most elk hunt codes: Unit 17 (11), Unit 13 (10) and Unit 15 (10).
| Unit | Square miles | Public land | Largest public manager | Tribal land | Elk codes | Deer codes | Pronghorn codes | Other big game codes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 13 | 4,450 | 41.6% | BLM | 24.8% | 10 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| Unit 15 | 1,634 | 77.6% | National forest | 10 | 4 | 5 | ||
| Unit 16A | 644 | 97% | National forest | 9 | 7 | 5 | ||
| Unit 16B | 943 | 99.5% | National forest | 5 | 7 | 5 | 1 | |
| Unit 16C | 479 | 83.3% | National forest | 9 | 7 | 5 | ||
| Unit 16D | 471 | 88.3% | National forest | 9 | 7 | 5 | ||
| Unit 16E | 959 | 62.7% | State trust land | 9 | 7 | 5 | ||
| Unit 17 | 1,648 | 73.8% | National forest | 11 | 6 | 6 | 1 | |
| Unit 18 | 2,445 | 65.9% | BLM | 3 | 5 | 3 | ||
| Unit 19 | 4,247 | 6.7% | BLM | 4 | 1 | 22 | ||
| Unit 20 | 2,550 | 62.9% | BLM | 5 | 3 | 1 | ||
| Unit 21A | 467 | 97.9% | National forest | 7 | 7 | 6 | ||
| Unit 21B | 2,550 | 62% | BLM | 10 | 7 | 6 | ||
| Unit 22 | 392 | 69.2% | National forest | 5 | 6 | 5 | 1 | |
| Unit 23 | 2,928 | 63.1% | National forest | 8 | 19 | 5 | 1 | |
| Unit 24 | 1,512 | 63.1% | National forest | 6 | 12 | 6 | 1 | |
| Unit 25 | 3,181 | 70.6% | BLM | 5 | 5 | 5 | ||
| Unit 26 | 2,304 | 51.5% | BLM | 6 | 5 | 1 | ||
| Unit 27 | 1,036 | 67.5% | BLM | 11 | 5 | 1 |
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 Southwest New Mexico?
| Manager | Acres | Share of the quadrant |
|---|---|---|
| BLM | 5,405,799 | 24.2% |
| National forest | 4,131,467 | 18.5% |
| State trust land | 2,860,668 | 12.8% |
| Military land | 2,461,012 | 11% |
| Tribal land | 706,215 | 3.2% |
| National wildlife refuge | 343,163 | 1.5% |
| National Park Service | 255,969 | 1.1% |
| Other federal (closed) | 109,920 | 0.5% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 81,397 | 0.4% |
| Wildlife Commission land | 14,208 | 0.1% |
| State park | 2,111 | under 0.1% |
Commission lands open to hunting here: La Joya WMA (3,674 acres) and Socorro-Escondida WMA (107 acres).
Which species pages cover Southwest New Mexico?
Elk: Unit 13, Unit 15, Unit 16A, Units 16B and 22, Unit 16C, Unit 16D, Unit 16E, Unit 17, Unit 18, Unit 21A, Unit 21B, Unit 23, Unit 24. Deer: Unit 13, Unit 15, Units 16A, 16B, 16C, 16D and 16E, Unit 17, Unit 18, Unit 19, Unit 20, Units 21A and 21B, Unit 22, Unit 23, Unit 24, Unit 25, Unit 26, Unit 27. Pronghorn: Unit 13, Unit 15, Units 16A, 16B, 16C, 16D and 16E, Unit 17, Unit 18, Unit 20, Units 21A, 21B and 24, Units 22 and 23, Units 25, 26 and 27. Oryx: Unit 19. Ibex: Unit 25.
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