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New Mexico Mule Deer Pronghorn Elk Javelina Oryx

Unit 28 (Unit 28 — Sacramento Mountains South)

New Mexico Hunting Guide — Mule Deer, Pronghorn, Elk, Javelina, Oryx

Unit 28 spans the southern Sacramento Mountains and Otero County country. Ponderosa, mixed conifer, oak, and PJ from 5,000 to 9,500 feet. Over three cycles, 90 tags against 543 applicants — a competitive unit with quality bucks in the higher country. McGregor Range portions (military) are separate hunts.

View Draw Odds New Mexico Hunting Guide
🏔️
1%
Public Land
⛰️
4,090–6,516 ft
Sampled elevation

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 28

Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready New Mexico Unit 28 guide around your hunt: three ranked spots with morning, afternoon and evening plays, a day-by-day plan, topo maps with every pin numbered, a camp and access plan, the legal and retrieval rules for this unit, shot discipline, a meat-care and pack-out plan, and a pre-trip checklist. Every coordinate sits on land recorded as public.

Mule Deer guide Pronghorn guide Elk guide Javelina guide Oryx guide

Free accounts get one report a year with the top spot unlocked. ProHunt Pro includes unlimited reports, all three spots, the full camp plan, and GPX/KML downloads for onX and Google Earth. Prefer to see one first? Open the builder and pick any unit.

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 28

Unit 28 spans the southern Sacramento Mountains and Otero County country. Ponderosa, mixed conifer, oak, and PJ from 5,000 to 9,500 feet. Over three cycles, 90 tags against 543 applicants — a competitive unit with quality bucks in the higher country. McGregor Range portions (military) are separate hunts.

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 28

Three productive zones.

Sacramento High Country (8,500–9,500 ft)

Aspen/conifer benches along the Sacramento crest hold quality bucks.

Mid-Elevation Oak/Pine (6,500–8,500 ft)

Classic mule deer habitat with Gambel oak and ponderosa mix.

PJ Foothills (5,000–6,500 ft)

Lower country on the east and south slopes catches late-season migrants.

Unit 28 terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

The lay of it

  • 4,090–6,516 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,807 ft ; peaks can run higher.
  • 1,075 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.

Who owns the ground

  • National Forest — 60%
  • BLM — 15%
  • State Trust — 8%
  • Private / Other — 17%

Roughly 83% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

  • 7 tanks
  • 85 stream segments

Counts from mapping data, so this is how many exist, not how many hold water in a dry year. Sitting water only pays where you find fresh tracks.

How to Hunt Unit 28 Mule Deer

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Mule Deer Success Rates

Rifle25%
Rifle success 25–35%. 90 tags against 543 applicants over three cycles puts odds at ~17%.

Mule Deer Draw Odds

SeasonTagsApplicantsDraw %Pts (n/p)
Rifle — Draw buck only (resident) 4215626.9% —
Rifle — Draw buck only (nonresident) 4646.3% —

Data from 2025 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number. This agency publishes no point thresholds, so the Pts column stays blank and these are pool odds, not what a point total draws.

Open in Draw Odds Engine
Pure random. NR capped at 6% (10% outfitter-guided). Resident rifle odds ~18–22%; note McGregor Range hunts draw separately.

Unit Logistics & Expectations

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do Unit 28 tags allow McGregor Range hunting?
No. McGregor Range (Fort Bliss military reservation) is a separate hunt code and requires specific draw tags plus military range access coordination.
What are the draw odds for New Mexico Unit 28 pronghorn?
Three-year data shows roughly 15% overall draw odds — 52 tags issued against 346 applicants. New Mexico's pure random system means odds don't improve with application history.
Does Unit 28 have E-PLUS tags?
Many NM units participate in the E-PLUS (private-land) system. Check NMDGF's E-PLUS map for Unit 28 participating ranches and their allocated tags.
Can I hunt near White Sands National Park in Unit 28?
No — White Sands National Park is closed to hunting, as is the adjacent White Sands Missile Range. Unit 28 hunting is restricted to BLM and state land parcels within the unit boundary. Use onX Hunt with current land ownership layers to verify your location before hunting any area in this unit.
Are oryx tags hard to draw in New Mexico Unit 28?
Moderately competitive. New Mexico's pure random draw gives every applicant equal odds each year with no points system. Oryx tags are sought after due to the hunt's unique nature, but success rates once drawn are very high — 70–90%.
Where did New Mexico oryx come from?
Gemsbok (oryx) were introduced to White Sands Missile Range in 1969 as an experiment in non-native big game management. The herd thrived in the Chihuahuan Desert and expanded onto adjacent BLM lands, eventually requiring annual hunting seasons to manage population growth.
What caliber should I use for New Mexico oryx?
A minimum of .308 Winchester is recommended, with 7mm Rem Mag or .300 Win Mag preferred for open-country shots averaging 200–400 yards. Oryx are large, tough animals — precise shot placement is more important than caliber.

Free Hunt Planning Tools

🎰 New Mexico Draw Odds Unit-level tag success rates 📅 Application Timeline Deadlines for all 9 states 🦌 Rut Forecast Peak rut timing by species 💰 Hunt Cost Calculator Budget your entire hunt

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Sources & Verification

Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-04-18.

  1. 2026-2027 NM Hunting Rules and Info — New Mexico Department of Game and Fish · supports: Unit 28 boundary, Deer hunt codes, McGregor Range special hunts · accessed 2026-04-17
  2. NMDGF Deer Species Information — New Mexico Department of Game and Fish · supports: Mule deer management · accessed 2026-04-17
  3. Lincoln National Forest — USDA Forest Service · supports: Sacramento Ranger District, Public access · accessed 2026-04-17
  4. NMDGF Pronghorn Species Info — New Mexico Department of Game and Fish · supports: Pronghorn biology and management · accessed 2026-04-17
  5. NMDGF Applications and Draw Information — New Mexico Department of Game and Fish · supports: Pure random draw, 6% / 10% NR caps · accessed 2026-04-17
  6. NMDGF Elk Species Info — New Mexico Department of Game and Fish · supports: Elk management · accessed 2026-04-17
  7. NMDGF E-PLUS — New Mexico Department of Game and Fish · supports: Private-land tag allocation rules · accessed 2026-04-17
  8. NMDGF Big Game Hunting — New Mexico Department of Game and Fish · supports: Unit boundaries, Season dates, License quotas · accessed 2026-04-18
  9. NMDGF Big Game Draw — New Mexico Department of Game and Fish · supports: Draw odds, Application process · accessed 2026-04-18
  10. NMDGF Oryx Species Info — New Mexico Department of Game and Fish · supports: Species management overview, GMU eligibility, Oryx herd background · accessed 2026-04-18
  11. NMDGF Hunt Unit Maps — New Mexico Department of Game and Fish · supports: GMU boundary maps, Land ownership overlays · accessed 2026-04-18