New Mexico · Elk · bow only
New Mexico elk hunt ELK-2-257
Unit 13. Bag limit either sex (ES). 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 148 licences on hunt code ELK-2-257 in 2026 and issued 148 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 168 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 8 drew it, 4.76%; 338 resident applicants ranked it first and 79 drew it, 23.37%; 161 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 14 drew it, 8.70%.
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 | 338 | 79 | 23.37% | 580 | 125 | 84.46% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 168 | 8 | 4.76% | 322 | 9 | 6.08% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 161 | 14 | 8.70% | 326 | 14 | 9.46% |
| 2025 | Resident | 383 | 96 | 25.07% | 619 | 125 | 84.46% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 242 | 4 | 1.65% | 335 | 9 | 6.08% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 166 | 6 | 3.61% | 348 | 14 | 9.46% |
| 2024 | Resident | 381 | 98 | 25.72% | 587 | 125 | 84.46% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 182 | 7 | 3.85% | 298 | 9 | 6.08% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 135 | 10 | 7.41% | 259 | 14 | 9.46% |
| 2023 | Resident | 372 | 101 | 27.15% | 642 | 125 | 84.46% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 195 | 9 | 4.62% | 281 | 9 | 6.08% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 132 | 8 | 6.06% | 237 | 14 | 9.46% |
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 | 148 | 148 | 667 | 1,895 |
| 2025 | 148 | 148 | 791 | 2,093 |
| 2024 | 148 | 148 | 698 | 1,842 |
| 2023 | 148 | 148 | 699 | 1,859 |
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