New Mexico · Elk · any legal big-game sporting arm
New Mexico elk hunt ELK-1-160
Unit 10. Bag limit mature bull (MB). Of the people who ranked this hunt first, how many drew it — year by year, and separately for each of the three pools New Mexico draws. Every figure comes from a Department of Wildlife report linked at the foot of this page.
What the 2026 draw did
New Mexico offered 70 licences on hunt code ELK-1-160 in 2026 and issued 70 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 52 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 2 drew it, 3.85%; 453 resident applicants ranked it first and 51 drew it, 11.26%; 54 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 2 drew it, 3.70%.
First-choice draw rate, by pool and year
| Year | Pool | Ranked it first | Drew on first choice | First-choice draw rate | Ranked it 2nd or 3rd | Licences to this pool | Share of the quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Resident | 453 | 51 | 11.26% | 641 | 59 | 84.29% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 52 | 2 | 3.85% | 90 | 4 | 5.71% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 54 | 2 | 3.70% | 103 | 7 | 10% |
| 2025 | Resident | 420 | 48 | 11.43% | 586 | 59 | 84.29% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 58 | 1 | 1.72% | 80 | 4 | 5.71% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 57 | 5 | 8.77% | 94 | 7 | 10% |
| 2024 | Resident | 508 | 57 | 11.22% | 599 | 59 | 84.29% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 56 | 2 | 3.57% | 68 | 4 | 5.71% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 25 | 4 | 16.00% | 74 | 7 | 10% |
| 2023 | Resident | 476 | 56 | 11.76% | 661 | 59 | 84.29% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 56 | 1 | 1.79% | 80 | 4 | 5.71% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 27 | 1 | 3.70% | 66 | 7 | 10% |
| 2022 | Resident | 72 | 32 | 44.44% | 262 | 110 | 91.67% |
| 2022 | Nonresident | 19 | 0 | 0.00% | 70 | 7 | 5.83% |
| 2022 | Guided (outfitter) | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 3 | 2.5% |
| 2021 | Resident | 79 | 32 | 40.51% | 244 | 107 | 89.17% |
| 2021 | Nonresident | 21 | 2 | 9.52% | 89 | 7 | 5.83% |
| 2021 | Guided (outfitter) | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 6 | 5% |
| 2020 | Resident | 49 | 33 | 67.35% | 204 | 109 | 90.84% |
| 2020 | Nonresident | 19 | 6 | 31.58% | 37 | 7 | 5.83% |
| 2020 | Guided (outfitter) | 1 | 1 | 100.00% | 3 | 4 | 3.33% |
| 2019 | Resident | 75 | 37 | 49.33% | 186 | 106 | — |
| 2019 | Nonresident | 20 | 2 | 10.00% | 58 | 8 | — |
| 2019 | Guided (outfitter) | 2 | 2 | 100.00% | 7 | 6 | — |
Share of the quota is the department's own R% / NR% / O% column: this pool's share of the licences offered. It is an allocation split set by state law — a minimum of 84% resident, 10% outfitted, 6% nonresident — and not a chance of drawing. It reads 100% on any hunt residents took in full. It is shown because the department publishes it and a reader will meet it elsewhere, not because it answers the question this page is about.
The first-choice draw rate, year by year
One strip per pool, because the three are drawn separately under different shares and a single averaged line would hide the only distinction most readers are here for. Each figure is a record of what that year's draw did. None of it forecasts the next one.
Rounded to whole percentages here; the table above carries them to two decimals. A dash means nobody in that pool ranked this hunt first that year.
Licences offered against licences issued
These are different numbers and the department publishes both. A hunt can fail to fill, and 35 of the 893 hunts in the 2026 report did.
| Year | Licences offered | Licences issued | Applicants who ranked it first | Applicants in total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 70 | 70 | 559 | 1,393 |
| 2025 | 70 | 70 | 535 | 1,295 |
| 2024 | 70 | 70 | 589 | 1,330 |
| 2023 | 70 | 70 | 559 | 1,366 |
| 2022 | 120 | 120 | 91 | 426 |
| 2021 | 120 | 120 | 100 | 439 |
| 2020 | 120 | 120 | 69 | 313 |
| 2019 | 120 | 120 | 97 | 348 |
Applicants in total counts everyone who ranked this hunt anywhere in their three choices, across all three pools. It is a measure of demand, not of competition for a first-choice licence.
Sources for this hunt
- 2026CompleteReport.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2026-04-13, fetched 2026-08-31
- 2025CompleteReport.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2025-04-09, fetched 2026-08-31
- 2024CompleteReport.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2024-04-09, fetched 2026-08-31
- 2023-odds_corrected_CN.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2023-04-11, fetched 2026-08-31
- 2022-Complete-Report.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2022-04-12, fetched 2026-08-31
- 2021-Big-Game-Drawing-Odds-Complete-Report.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2021-04-14, fetched 2026-08-31
- 2020-Drawing-Odds-Complete-Report.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2020-08-03, fetched 2026-08-31
- 2019-Drawing-Odds-Complete-Report.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2019-06-26, fetched 2026-08-31