New Mexico Canned Hunt Statutes and Regulations

No Ban: Mammals permitted.

Statute

New Mexico law specifies that "no person shall have or maintain any park, enclosure, lake or body of water for the purpose of keeping or propagating therein any game or game fish for sale, nor shall any living game or game fish from such park, enclosure, lake or body of water be sold or offered for sale, unless the owner, proprietor or lessee thereof shall first procure a license..." N.M.S.A. §17-4-8.

The maximum area that may be included within any park "shall not exceed three thousand two hundred acres, and that every park shall be enclosed by a game proof fence which shall conform to specifications required by the state game commission." Id. at §17-4-12.

Any wildlife held within such parks shall "be deemed the property of the licensee of the same to the extent that he may lawfully retain, pursue, capture, kill, use, sell or dispose of the game or fish therein in any quantity, in any manner and at any time of the year." Id. at §17-4-15.

The law also requires that reports documenting, among other things, the kind, number, age and sex of the game added and disposed be submitted to the directors of the Department of Game and Fish. Id. at §17-4-21.

In addition, "state game commission may issue licenses authorizing the establishment and operation of regulated propagated game bird shooting preserves on private land when in the judgment of the commission such areas will not conflict with any reasonable prior interest." Id. at §17-3-36.

The commission shall establish, by regulation, the minimum and maximum size of the area, the method of hunting, open and closed seasons, and rules for the releasing, possessing and use of legally propagated penraised game birds on the preserves. Id. at §17-3-36 (A-D).

A "game bird" as used in this law (Regulated Shooting Preserve Act) means "pheasant, quail, chukar and mallards." Id. at §17-3-37.

Regulation

In response to a request for New Mexico regulations pertaining to the establishment and operation of shooting preserves or similar facilities, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish provided a copy of its regulations pertaining to the release of game birds for call pen and retriever trials and a State Game Commission document providing specifications for game-proof fencing for mammal only Class A parks.  

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