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Free Lifetime Card at 100% — $10 a Year Below It

At 100%, a free lifetime card covers fishing, small-game hunting and a complimentary deer licence — with the Habitat Stamp waived. Below 100%, any disabled veteran pays $10 a year for game hunting and fishing.

Verified August 27, 2026

What this benefit is

At 100%, a free lifetime card covers fishing, small-game hunting and a complimentary deer licence — with the Habitat Stamp waived. Below 100%, any disabled veteran pays $10 a year for game hunting and fishing.

What it's worth: Free lifetime fishing + small game + deer at 100%; $10 a year at any lower rating

  • Non-resident disabled veterans participating in a rehabilitation programme via the VA, or via an authorised nonprofit, receive RESIDENT rates for deer, antelope, elk, javelina and turkey licences.
  • On big game species the resident and non-resident prices differ substantially, so this is worth more than it sounds.
  • The route runs through participation in the rehabilitation programme, so the programme is what evidences it.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are a 100% disabled veteran — the free lifetime card tier.
  • You are a resident of this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1At 100%, apply once for the lifetime card — fishing, small game and the complimentary deer licence ride on it, and the Habitat Stamp requirement is waived.
  2. 2Below 100%, buy the $10 game hunting and fishing licence — the gate is being a disabled veteran, with no percentage floor.
  3. 3Pair it with the DVS-certificate benefits: the same 100% finding that carries this card exempts the principal residence from property tax.
Form
Disabled veteran card application
File with
The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Documents you will need
va benefit summary letter
Annual
Claimed once a year.
Worth knowingThe $10 tier has NO percentage floor — any service-connected disabled veteran below 100% qualifies, which most tiered states do not offer.
Worth knowingThe complimentary deer licence inside the lifetime card is unusual: big game is excluded from almost every other free-card programme in this corpus.

Sources

Why only one source type: The official regulations digest states both tiers, the free lifetime card contents and the Habitat Stamp exemption; the department’s own pages returned 403.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.