Encouragement elk license sale begins July 13

By NM Game and Fish

SANTA FE – New Mexico resident youth and senior hunters who applied and were unsuccessful in the 2022-2023 big-game draw are eligible to purchase one of nearly 1,900 antlerless elk licenses. The licenses will go on sale through the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish’s Online License System at 10 a.m. MDT, July 13 for resident youth and expand to include resident seniors at 10 a.m. MDT, July 27.

The sale is designed to encourage unsuccessful youth and senior draw applicants and includes almost 1,500 licenses for any legal sporting arm and 390 licenses for muzzleloader, crossbow or bow.

Licenses will be sold online only on a first-come, first-served basis. To purchase a license, customers will need to log into their Online License System account.

Eligibility and requirements:

• For the first 14 days, the sale is open only to resident youth who have successfully applied in the current license year for one or more draw hunts for deer, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, Barbary sheep, oryx or ibex and did not successfully draw a license for any hunt. Please note that the purchase of a leftover draw hunt counts as a successful draw application in this case.  Eligible applicants:
  • Must have a valid Hunter Education certification.
  • Must be 17 years of age or younger on the opening day of their hunt.
• Beginning at 10 a.m. MDT, July 27, the sale will expand to also include all resident seniors, 65 years of age or older, who successfully applied in the current license year for one or more draw hunts for deer, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, Barbary sheep, oryx or ibex and did not successfully draw a license for any hunt.
• Nonresidents and youth and/or senior applicants who were successful for another species are not eligible for these hunts.

All purchases will be audited to verify the customer’s eligibility.

Hunters planning to purchase an encouragement license must have completed all mandatory 2021-2022 harvest reporting requirements or their purchase will be rejected in the post-sale audit. The license fee, but not the application fee, will be refunded for rejected purchases. After eligibility is verified – usually within a few days – the license will be available to view in the E-Tag app or from any computer by logging into your account and selecting “My Purchases” in the main menu.

Following the successful purchase of an encouragement license, the license/tag will be mailed to the hunter, unless the e-tag option is selected. Complete information about tagging requirements is available on the Department’s website and in the Hunting Rules and Information booklet.

For more information about the encouragement elk sale, hunting in New Mexico or for help logging in, please call the Information Center at (888) 248-6866 or email us at ispa@state.nm.us.

Encouragement licenses will not be sold over the phone. For the list of available hunts please see pages 81 and 82 of the 2022-2023 Hunting Rules and Information Booklet available online.