N.M. Code R. § 19.31.10.7 – Definitions

A. “Angling” shall mean taking or attempting to take fish by angling hook and line, with the line held in the hand or attached to a pole or rod or other device that is held in the hand or closely attended.
B. “Angling hook” shall mean a single, double, or treble (triple) point attached to a single shank.
C. “Any sporting arm” shall mean any firearm, muzzle-loader, compressed air gun, shotgun, bow or crossbow. All firearms, except handguns, must be designed to be fired from the shoulder.
D. “Arrow” or “Bolt” shall mean only those arrows or bolts having broadheads with cutting edges except that “judo”, “blunt” or similar small game points may be used for upland game and migratory game bird hunting and arrows for bow fishing must have barbs to prevent the loss of fish.
E. “Bag limit” shall mean the protected species, qualified by species, number, sex, age, antler/horn requirement, or size allowed by state game commission rule that a legally licensed person may attempt to take or take.
F. “Bait” as used in 19.31.10.15 NMAC shall mean the flesh, hide, fur or viscera of any animal. Bones free of flesh are not considered bait.
G. “Bait” as used in 19.31.10.12 NMAC and 19.31.10.13 NMAC shall mean any salt, mineral, grain, feed, commercially produced game attractant or any other organic material which is attractive to wildlife.
H. “Baiting” shall mean the placing, exposing, depositing, distributing, or scattering of any bait on or over areas where any person is attempting to take protected game mammals or game birds as defined in Section 17-2-3 NMSA 1978.
I. “Bait fish” is defined as those nongame fish which are not otherwise protected by statute or regulation.
J. “Barbless lure or fly” shall mean an artificial lure made of wood, metal, or plastic or an artificial fly made from fur, feathers, other animal or man-made materials to resemble or simulate insects, bait fish, or other foods. A barbless fly or lure may only bear a single hook, from which any or all barbs must be removed or bent completely closed, or which are manufactured without barbs. Living or dead arthropods and annelids or other foods are not considered barbless lures or flies.
K. “Big-game species” shall mean Barbary sheep, bear, bighorn sheep, cougar, deer, elk, javelina, oryx Persian ibex, and pronghorn.
L. “Big-game sporting arms” shall mean any centerfire firearm at least .22 caliber or larger, any muzzle-loading firearm at least .45 caliber or larger, any shotgun .410 caliber or larger firing a single slug (including muzzle-loading shotguns), any bow or any crossbow. All firearms, except handguns, must be designed to be fired from the shoulder.
M. “Body-grip trap” shall mean a rotating jaw trap designed to capture a furbearer by the body.
N. “Bow” shall mean compound, recurve, or long bow, which is not equipped with a mechanical device (draw lock) which locks the bow string at full draw. Sights on bows shall not project light, however, illuminated pins/reticles and scopes of any magnification are allowed.
O. “Bow fishing” shall mean taking or attempting to take game fish with arrows/bolts that are discharged above the surface of the water by a bow or crossbow. Arrows/bolts must be attached by string, line, or rope to facilitate fish retrieval.
P. “Bullet” shall mean a single projectile fired from a firearm which is designed to expand or fragment upon impact. Tracer or full metal jacket ammunition is not legal for the take or attempted take of any big game species.
Q. “Cellular”, “Wi-Fi” or “satellite camera” shall mean any remote camera which transmits or is capable of transmitting images or video wirelessly via a cellular, Wi-Fi or satellite connection.
R. “Chumming” is defined as a means of attracting fish by placing organic materials, non-injurious to aquatic life, into the water.
S. “Compressed air gun” shall mean any kind of gun that launches a single non-spherical projectile, pneumatically with compressed air or other gases that are pressurized mechanically without involving any chemical reaction.
T. “Crossbow” shall mean a device with a bow limb or band of flexible material that is attached horizontally to a stock and has a mechanism to hold the string in a cocked position. Sights on crossbows shall not project light, however, illuminated pins/reticles and scopes of any magnification are allowed.
U. “Department” shall mean the New Mexico department of game and fish.
V. “Director” shall mean the director of the New Mexico department of game and fish.
W. “Drainage” shall mean all waters within a watershed including tributaries, headwaters, lakes, ponds, and other water bodies.
X. “Drone” is defined as any device used or designed for navigation or flight in the air that is unmanned and guided remotely or by an onboard computer or onboard control system. Drones may also be referred to as “unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)” or “unmanned aerial vehicle systems (UAVS)”.
Y. “Established road” is defined as follows:
1. (1) a road, built or maintained by equipment, which shows no evidence of ever being closed to vehicular traffic by such means as berms, ripping, scarification, reseeding, fencing, gates, barricades or posted closures; or
2. (2) a two-track road which shows use prior to hunting seasons for other purposes such as recreation, mining, logging, and ranching and which shows no evidence of ever being closed to vehicular traffic by such means as berms, ripping, scarification, reseeding, fencing, gates, barricades or posted closures.
Z. “Foothold trap” shall mean a trap designed to capture a furbearer by the foot, but does not include foot encapsulating traps.
1. (1) all animals defined as protected wildlife species and game fish under Section 17-2-3 NMSA 1978;
2. (2) all animals defined as furbearing animals under Section 17-5-2 NMSA 1978;
3. (3) all animals listed as endangered or threatened species or subspecies as stated in 19.33.6 NMAC: and
4. (4) all animals listed under Sections 17-2-13, 17-2-14 or 17-2-4.2 NMSA 1978.
  NN. “Retention” or “retain” shall mean the holding of live protected species in captivity.
  OO. “Restricted muzzle-loading rifle” shall mean any muzzle-loading rifle using open sights, black powder or equivalent propellant and firing a full bore diameter bullet or patched round ball. The use of in-line ignition, scopes and smokeless powder are prohibited.
  PP. “Shotgun” shall mean any centerfire shotgun or muzzle-loading shotgun not larger than 10 gauge.
  QQ. “Snagging” is the repeated or exaggerated jerking or pulling of the fishing line or angling hooks in any attempt to impale fish, whether or not it results in physically snagging a fish.
  RR. “Snare” shall mean a wire or cable with a single closing device designed to capture a furbearer.
  SS. “Spear fishing” shall mean taking or attempting to take game fish with spears, gigs and arrows with barbs.
  TT. “Sporting-arm types” shall be designated in the hunt code as follows unless further restricted or allowed by state game commission rule:
5. (1) all hunt codes denoted with -0- shall authorize use of any shotgun firing shot (ex. SCR-0-XXX );
6. (2) all hunt codes denoted with -1- shall authorize use of any big game sporting arm (ex. ELK-1-XXX);
7. (3) all hunt codes denoted with -2- shall authorize use of bows only (ex. ELK-2-XXX);
8. (4) all hunt codes denoted with -3- shall authorize use of bows, crossbows and muzzle-loading firearms with open or “iron” sights only (ex. ELK-3-XXX).
  UU. “Take” shall mean to hunt, fish, kill or capture any protected species or parts thereof.
  VV. “Trap” shall mean any foothold trap, foot encapsulating trap, cage trap or body-grip trap set to capture a furbearer.
  WW. “Trotline” shall be synonymous with “set line” or “throw line” or “jug”, “Yo-Yo line” or “limb line”, and shall mean a fishing line that is used without rod or reel and that need not be held in the hand or closely attended.
  XX. “Upland game” shall mean dusky grouse, Eurasian collared-dove, all protected squirrel species, all quail species, chukar and pheasant.
  YY. “Water set” shall mean any trap or snare set fully in water.
  ZZ. “Wildlife management area” or “WMA” shall mean those areas as described in 19.34.5 NMAC.
  AAA. “Written permission” shall mean a document (which may include a valid hunting, trapping or fishing license) that asserts the holder has permission from the private land owner or their designee to hunt, fish, trap or drive off road on the landowner’s property. The information on the document must be verifiable and include the name of the person(s) receiving permission, activity permitted, property’s location and name (if applicable), name of person granting permission, date and length of time the permission is granted, and phone number or e-mail of the person granting the permission. Licenses issued for private land which have the ranch name printed on them constitute written permission for that property and no other permission is required except for private land elk licenses in the secondary management zone pursuant to 19.30.5 NMAC and 19.31.14 NMAC.
  BBB. “Zone” shall mean those bear or cougar hunt areas, consisting of one or more GMUs, as described in 19.31.11 NMAC.
AA. “Foot encapsulating trap” shall mean any trap with a push or pull-activated trigger located inside an enclosure recessed from an opening of no more than two inches in diameter, as measured across the opening from side to side, not corner to corner. Foot encapsulating traps include “dog proof” and “egg” traps.
BB. “Furbearer” shall mean any quadruped defined as a fur-bearing animal in Section 17-5-2 NMSA 1978.
CC. “Game management unit” or “GMU” shall mean those areas as described in 19.30.4 NMAC, Boundary Descriptions for Game Management Units.
DD. “Jaw spread” shall mean the distance between the jaws when measured across the center of the trap and perpendicular to a line drawn through the pivot points of the jaws when the trap is set.
EE. “Laminated” shall mean any modification to the jaw thickness of a foothold trap by fastening a strip of metal (rod or flat stock) to the trap jaw, or a trap that is manufactured with cast jaws, which increases the contact surface area of the jaw.
FF. “Land set” shall mean any foothold trap or snare set on land.
GG. “License year” shall mean the period from April 1 through March 31.
HH. “Locate” shall mean any act or activity, in which any person is searching for, spotting or otherwise finding a protected species from or with the aid of any aircraft or drone.
II. “Migratory game bird” shall mean band-tailed pigeon, mourning dove, white-winged dove, sandhill crane, American coot, common moorhen, common snipe, ducks, geese, sora and Virginia rail.
JJ. “Muzzle-loader” or “muzzle-loading firearms” shall mean those sporting arms in which the charge and projectile(s) are loaded through the muzzle. Only blackpowder or equivalent blackpowder substitute may be used. Use of smokeless powder is prohibited.
KK. “Nets” shall mean cast nets, dip nets, and seines which shall not be longer than 20 feet and shall not have a mesh larger than three-eighths of an inch.
LL. “Non-toxic shot” shall mean that non-toxic shot approved for use by the U. S. fish and wildlife service.
MM. “Protected species” shall mean any of the following animals:

[19.31.10.7 NMAC - Rp, 19.31.10.7 NMAC, 4/1/2023]