About how long is the Field Day hunter education course?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Hunter Education page
About how long is the traditional instructor-led hunter education course?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Hunter Education page
Does a bowhunter education course qualify a student for hunting with firearms?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Hunter Education page
From what age may a hunter earn the New Mexico certification completely online?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Hunter Education page
In the traditional course, which students must have a parent, guardian or responsible adult attend with them?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Hunter Education page
Is bowhunter education mandatory for archery hunts in New Mexico?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Hunter Education page
May a 16-year-old who has not passed hunter education buy a firearms hunting license?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Hunter Education page
May a juvenile without a certificate shoot a firearm at all?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Hunter Education page
To earn certification in an instructor-led course, a student attends all sessions, passes a written exam and does what else?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Hunter Education page
Show all 90 questions (81 more)
The certificate and the course, continued
What do all instructor-led courses require before a student attends?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Hunter Education page
What must a youth hunter carry while hunting?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Hunter Education page
What must an online student pass to earn a hunter education number?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Hunter Education page
What number must an applicant for a youth-only hunt have?19.31.3.11(I) NMAC
Where does a graduate's hunter education number appear?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Hunter Education page
Where is the New Mexico certification recognized?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Hunter Education page
Who may apply for a youth-only hunt?19.31.3.11(I) NMAC
Who may not hunt with a firearm in New Mexico without a hunter education certificate or Mentored-Youth registration?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Hunter Education page
Who may take the Field Day course?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Hunter Education page
The Mentored-Youth program 12
Besides a valid hunting license, what must a mentor have before taking an MY hunter afield?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Mentored-Youth Hunting Program page
For how long may a registered MY hunter hunt with a qualified mentor?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Mentored-Youth Hunting Program page
How close must the mentor and the MY hunter stay while hunting?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Mentored-Youth Hunting Program page
How many questions are on the Mentored-Youth Hunter quiz?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Mentored-Youth Hunting Program page
How many times may a youth register for the MY Hunting Program?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Mentored-Youth Hunting Program page
How old must a mentor be?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Mentored-Youth Hunting Program page
What grade passes the Mentored-Youth Hunter quiz?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Mentored-Youth Hunting Program page
What happens if a youth does not pass the MY quiz the first time?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Mentored-Youth Hunting Program page
What may MY hunters aged 8 and 9 hunt?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Mentored-Youth Hunting Program page
Which ages may join the Mentored-Youth Hunting Program as first-time hunters?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Mentored-Youth Hunting Program page
Which dates make up a New Mexico license year?19.31.10.7(GG) NMAC
Which of these is not on the list of species for MY hunters aged 10 to 17?New Mexico Department of Wildlife, Mentored-Youth Hunting Program page
Roads, vehicles, aircraft and drones 13
A public road has no right-of-way fence. From which part may no one shoot at a protected species?19.31.10.11(A) NMAC
After air travel that is neither a scheduled commercial flight nor a direct flight to the final destination, when may a person first hunt?19.31.10.11(E) NMAC
During a season, where on public land may a vehicle carrying a licensed hunter not be driven?19.31.10.11(I) NMAC
How long after an aircraft flight may nobody hunt using game locations learned from it?19.31.10.11(G) NMAC
Is it lawful to shoot from the road at artificial wildlife, such as a decoy deer?19.31.10.11(B) NMAC
Is it lawful to spot game from an aircraft or drone and signal its location to someone on the ground?19.31.10.11(F) NMAC
May a hunter shoot at a protected species from within a motor vehicle?19.31.10.11(C) NMAC
What does a hunter need to drive off an established road on private land during a season?19.31.10.11(I) NMAC
When may a hunter use game locations learned from a drone?19.31.10.11(G) NMAC
When may a person shoot from a motor-driven boat?19.31.10.11(C) NMAC
Where a public road has right-of-way fences, from where is it unlawful to shoot at a protected species?19.31.10.11(A) NMAC
Which act toward a protected species is unlawful at any time, except while legally hunting?19.31.10.11(D) NMAC
Which purpose is an exception to the off-road driving rule, in an area not closed to vehicles?19.31.10.11(I) NMAC
Hours, bait, dogs and methods 18
For how many days must an area be completely free of bait before big game or turkey may be taken there?19.31.10.12(M) NMAC
For which of these may an electronically recorded calling device be used?19.31.10.12(P) NMAC
How long before hunting must a bear or cougar license be bought?19.31.10.12(Z) NMAC
How many dogs may be used at one time to find a wounded or dead deer?19.31.10.12(L) NMAC
How must a dog used to recover a wounded deer be handled?19.31.10.12(L) NMAC
How tall a fence is treated as game proof, so that hunting big game inside it is unlawful?19.31.10.12(O) NMAC
May a hunter use a cellular camera that sends pictures to a phone to scout for big game?19.31.10.12(DD) NMAC
May a hunter use a scent attractant in hunting bears?19.31.10.12(M) NMAC
May a live protected animal be used as a decoy for big game or turkey?19.31.10.12(N) NMAC
May dogs be used to hunt upland game and migratory game birds?19.31.10.13(H) NMAC
Unless a rule allows more, how many animals of one big game species may a person take in a year?19.31.10.12(D) NMAC
What are the legal hunting hours for big game and turkey?19.31.10.12(A) NMAC
What must a cougar hunter complete before hunting?19.31.10.12(CC) NMAC
Where may a turkey not be shot?19.31.10.12(EE) NMAC
Which bear may no hunter take?19.31.10.12(C) NMAC
Which big game may be hunted or pursued with dogs?19.31.10.12(L) NMAC
Which of these is a big-game species in the rule's definitions?19.31.10.7(K) NMAC
Which of these is not bait, if it has not been moved there from somewhere else?19.31.10.12(M) NMAC
Tags and proof of sex 17
A hunter gives a friend an elk quarter. What document must the friend have?19.31.10.9(B) NMAC
A hunter who chose electronic tagging writes the e-tag number, the customer identification number and what else on durable material?19.31.10.12(G) NMAC
By when must the carcass tag be put on the animal?19.31.10.12(G) NMAC
How must the antlers of a buck deer travel until the carcass reaches a residence, taxidermist, processor or place of final storage?19.31.10.12(F) NMAC
Is a carcass tag that has been cut or torn still valid for taking game?19.31.10.12(H) NMAC
On harvesting an animal, what does a hunter with a department issued carcass tag do at once?19.31.10.12(G) NMAC
What is proof of bag limit for a javelina?19.31.10.12(F) NMAC
What must stay attached to each pheasant?19.31.10.13(E) NMAC
What must stay attached to each quail until it reaches a residence or place of final cold storage?19.31.10.13(E) NMAC
When the bag limit is a bearded turkey, what must stay with the carcass?19.31.10.12(F) NMAC
Where does the tag go on a javelina?19.31.10.12(G) NMAC
Where is an antler tag placed?19.31.10.12(G) NMAC
Where is the carcass tag attached on a deer or elk?19.31.10.12(G) NMAC
Where is the tag put on a turkey?19.31.10.12(G) NMAC
Which of these is proof of sex for an antlerless deer?19.31.10.12(F) NMAC
Which part found in the field may be kept without an invoice or permit from the department?19.31.10.9(E) NMAC
Within how many days must a bear or cougar skull and pelt be presented for pelt tagging?19.31.10.12(G) NMAC
Licenses, land and officers 12
A hunter hunts in a game management unit other than the one on the license. Is that lawful?19.31.10.12(U) NMAC
How many licenses for one big game species may a person hold in a license year, unless a rule allows more?19.31.3.11(A) NMAC
May a hunter sell a hunting license or tag the department issued?19.31.10.12(K) NMAC
May a hunter with a private land only license hunt big game on public land?19.31.10.12(X) NMAC
May a person release a wild mammal or bird into New Mexico without a department permit?19.31.10.10(E) NMAC
On lands the state game commission controls, what is it unlawful to do?19.31.10.16(B) NMAC
What happens to a game animal taken on private land in violation of the written permission rule?19.31.10.18(B) NMAC
What must a hunter possess to enter private property to take game?19.31.10.18(A) NMAC
What must a licensee have in possession while hunting?19.31.10.10(A) NMAC
What number must a migratory bird hunter possess?19.31.3.11(O) NMAC
Who is excepted from the habitat management and access validation that goes with a hunting license?19.31.3.11(O) NMAC
Who may require a hunter to produce the license?19.31.10.10(A) NMAC
How this list was compiled: Written from the New Mexico Administrative Code as published by the State Records Center and Archives: Title 19, Chapter 31, Part 10, Hunting and Fishing - Manner and Method of Taking, at https://www.srca.nm.gov/parts/title19/19.031.0010.html (sections 19.31.10.7, 19.31.10.9, 19.31.10.10, 19.31.10.11, 19.31.10.12, 19.31.10.13, 19.31.10.16 and 19.31.10.18) and Part 3, Hunting and Fishing Licenses and Permits, at https://www.srca.nm.gov/parts/title19/19.031.0003.html (section 19.31.3.11). Both were read on 2026-10-12; each question names its subsection. The course facts (who needs the certificate, the traditional, field day and online courses, their lengths and ages, the written exam and firearm handling test) are the New Mexico Department of Wildlife's own, read the same day on its Hunter Education page at https://wildlife.dgf.nm.gov/education/hunter-education/, and the Mentored-Youth facts (ages, species, the 25-question quiz and its 80% pass grade, mentors, two license years) on its Mentored-Youth Hunting Program page at https://wildlife.dgf.nm.gov/education/hunter-education/mentored-youth-hunter/. The Hunter Education page is the published outline this page follows. The department publishes no question count, pass mark or time limit for the hunter education written exam, so none is given here. The rule's text names the agency the department of game and fish; the agency's own website reads New Mexico Department of Wildlife. Licence: Own work. Questions, answer choices and explanations were written for this site from the text of the state game commission's rules and the facts on the department's public pages; nothing is copied from a hunter education manual, a study guide, an online course, a chapter review, the Mentored-Youth quiz or an examination.
How it works
Unofficial practice for New Mexico hunter education: our own questions from the state game commission's manner and method rule, 19.31.10 NMAC, and the department's course pages, each with its source.
Read the full guide
Rules that are New Mexico's own
Big game and turkey hours run from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. A carcass tag is notched at once and attached before the animal leaves the kill site. Game locations learned from a drone may never be used.
What the test is
The Department of Wildlife says students in an instructor-led course attend every session, pass a written exam and are tested on safe firearm handling; online students pass chapter quizzes and a final exam.
No turkey may be shot on a roost, and no cellular, Wi-Fi or satellite camera may be used to hunt or scout big game.
An area must be free of bait for at least 10 days before big game or turkey is taken there.
Questions and answers
How many questions are on the New Mexico hunter education test?
The New Mexico Department of Wildlife does not publish a count or a pass mark for the hunter education written exam. Its separate Mentored-Youth quiz is 25 multiple-choice questions with a passing grade of 80%.
Who needs hunter education in New Mexico?
Anyone under 18 who hunts with a firearm, the department says, unless registered in its Mentored-Youth Hunting Program. Youth hunters carry proof of the course or a current Mentored-Youth number while hunting.
How old do you have to be to take hunter education in New Mexico?
The traditional course takes students of any age; those 10 and younger attend with an adult. The Field Day course is for ages 10 and older, and the fully online course for ages 9 and older.
Is this the official NM hunter safety test?
No. It is unofficial and not affiliated with the New Mexico Department of Wildlife. The questions are our own, written from the state game commission's rules and the department's public pages; none comes from its exam, its quiz or its manual.