Recreational Opportunities

September, 2019

  • 27 September

    Hone your Big Game Hunting skills by Hunting Small Game

    Hone your Big Game Hunting skills by Hunting Small Game - NMDGF

    When it comes to staying sharp and proficient at big game hunting, most hunters spend their time practicing at the range. However, one way to stay sharp, sighted in and put some extra meat in the freezer is hunting small game. Small game can be anything from a squirrel to …

August, 2019

  • 27 August

    Set Up Your Tent at These Four Wildlife Management Areas

    New Mexico’s Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) are managed primarily for fish, wildlife and their habitats. The WMAs also allow public recreation, including camping on some properties, to offer the public opportunities to better enjoy the natural resources being conserved. WMAs are not parks and visitors should expect limited accommodations. Where …

July, 2019

  • 24 July

    Catching kokanee

    Salmon photo: Department photo by Martin Perea.

    Kokanee salmon are not native to New Mexico. A land-locked sockeye salmon, they thrive in some of the deeper and colder plankton-producing lakes in our state such as Heron, El Vado, Navajo, Abiquiu and Eagle Nest Lakes. Kokanee mature between three to five years old and achieve sizes of three …

  • 24 July

    Off-the-highway fishing stops

    Tingley Beach: Department photo by Ross Morgan

    Headed west to Phoenix or San Diego? Or north to Denver? East to Amarillo? South to El Paso? Long car rides often call for a pit stop, and what better way to relax after a few hours in the car than to go fishing. The following fishing spots are not …

June, 2019

  • 24 June

    New OHV Recreation Area Now Open!

    New OHV Recreation Area Now Open!

    On Monday, May 20, 2019 the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish joined officials from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), San Juan County and the City of Farmington to proudly cut the ribbon on the Brown Springs Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area at BLM’s Glade Run. New Mexico’s OHV …

  • 13 June

    Hunter education… why wait!

    Students learning the importance of shot placement at one of the Hunter Education camps at Washington Ranch near Carlsbad.

    Firearms safety. Ethical shot placement. Respect for natural resources. These may be some concepts that come to mind when you think of hunter education. In the 1940s, volunteer sportsmen and women who had the desire to raise ethical behaviors and actions by hunters while in the field established hunter education …

  • 13 June

    Blind hunter sets no limits for himself

    Mike Sanders with a pronghorn he harvested last August. Department photo by Craig Sanchez.

    With the help of good friends and adaptive equipment, Mike Sanders goes after big game When Mike Sanders lost his eyesight in an industrial accident at an oil refinery 15 years ago, he thought he would never hunt again. Today, he will hunt anything he can get a tag for …

  • 13 June

    #MakingMemories

    Department photo by Tristanna Bickford.

    Merriam-Webster’s defines mentorship as the influence, guidance or direction given by a mentor. To me, mentorship means so much more. Earlier this year I was driving through Western New Mexico. It was pitch black, the complete cloud cover blacking out any hint of light from the moon and stars. The …

  • 13 June

    The art of the hunt… a daughter’s experience

    Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge wildlife biologist Jeff Sanchez guided Willow Springer during a youth hunt. The hunt is available only by annual lottery.

    You can hear the quiet — it’s that noticeable. Save for the silver tinkle of water trickling over an irrigation head gate on a small ditch several yards behind us, the pre-dawn dark is without sound, without motion. The stillness is as steady as the stars. I’m taken by the …

  • 13 June

    Selecting the best fishing opportunity

    Tingley Beach. Department photo by Ross Morgan.

    If you are an angler new to New Mexico fishing, there are a myriad of choices facing you. This goes for resident and non-resident anglers. These choices can be quite daunting to a newbie. I am sure that more than a few potential anglers “stalled out” and never pursued this …