New Mexico · Elk · any legal big-game sporting arm
New Mexico elk hunt ELK-1-238
Unit 6C. 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 105 licences on hunt code ELK-1-238 in 2026 and issued 105 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 23 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 3 drew it, 13.04%; 213 resident applicants ranked it first and 48 drew it, 22.54%; 38 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 5 drew it, 13.16%.
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 | 213 | 48 | 22.54% | 699 | 89 | 84.76% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 23 | 3 | 13.04% | 151 | 6 | 5.72% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 38 | 5 | 13.16% | 207 | 10 | 9.52% |
| 2025 | Resident | 135 | 27 | 20.00% | 675 | 89 | 84.77% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 27 | 3 | 11.11% | 156 | 6 | 5.71% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 17 | 1 | 5.88% | 202 | 10 | 9.52% |
| 2024 | Resident | 160 | 34 | 21.25% | 690 | 89 | 84.76% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 26 | 1 | 3.85% | 159 | 6 | 5.72% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 18 | 1 | 5.56% | 180 | 10 | 9.52% |
| 2023 | Resident | 127 | 30 | 23.62% | 617 | 89 | 84.77% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 34 | 2 | 5.88% | 154 | 6 | 5.71% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 19 | 4 | 21.05% | 92 | 10 | 9.52% |
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 | 105 | 105 | 274 | 1,331 |
| 2025 | 105 | 105 | 179 | 1,212 |
| 2024 | 105 | 105 | 204 | 1,233 |
| 2023 | 105 | 105 | 180 | 1,043 |
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