New Mexico · Elk · any legal big-game sporting arm
New Mexico elk hunt ELK-1-195
Unit 51. 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 220 licences on hunt code ELK-1-195 in 2026 and issued 220 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 298 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 10 drew it, 3.36%; 1,401 resident applicants ranked it first and 153 drew it, 10.92%; 296 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 20 drew it, 6.76%.
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 | 1,401 | 153 | 10.92% | 1,589 | 185 | 84.09% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 298 | 10 | 3.36% | 391 | 13 | 5.91% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 296 | 20 | 6.76% | 220 | 22 | 10% |
| 2025 | Resident | 1,386 | 159 | 11.47% | 1,605 | 185 | 84.09% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 289 | 12 | 4.15% | 426 | 13 | 5.91% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 263 | 18 | 6.84% | 245 | 22 | 10% |
| 2024 | Resident | 1,460 | 162 | 11.10% | 1,591 | 185 | 84.09% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 279 | 11 | 3.94% | 400 | 13 | 5.91% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 234 | 17 | 7.26% | 220 | 22 | 10% |
| 2023 | Resident | 1,490 | 152 | 10.20% | 1,621 | 185 | 84.09% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 256 | 7 | 2.73% | 317 | 13 | 5.91% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 167 | 20 | 11.98% | 151 | 22 | 10% |
| 2022 | Resident | 166 | 20 | 12.05% | 135 | 30 | 100% |
| 2022 | Nonresident | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| 2022 | Guided (outfitter) | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| 2021 | Resident | 162 | 20 | 12.35% | 145 | 28 | 93.33% |
| 2021 | Nonresident | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| 2021 | Guided (outfitter) | 1 | 1 | 100.00% | 1 | 2 | 6.67% |
| 2020 | Resident | 110 | 24 | 21.82% | 117 | 28 | 93.33% |
| 2020 | Nonresident | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| 2020 | Guided (outfitter) | 1 | 1 | 100.00% | 1 | 2 | 6.67% |
| 2019 | Resident | 82 | 23 | 28.05% | 107 | 30 | — |
| 2019 | Nonresident | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2019 | Guided (outfitter) | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
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 | 220 | 220 | 1,995 | 4,195 |
| 2025 | 220 | 220 | 1,938 | 4,214 |
| 2024 | 220 | 220 | 1,973 | 4,184 |
| 2023 | 220 | 220 | 1,913 | 4,002 |
| 2022 | 30 | 30 | 166 | 301 |
| 2021 | 30 | 30 | 163 | 309 |
| 2020 | 30 | 30 | 111 | 229 |
| 2019 | 30 | 30 | 82 | 189 |
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