New Mexico · Elk · bow only
New Mexico elk hunt ELK-2-265
Unit 15. 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 250 licences on hunt code ELK-2-265 in 2026 and issued 250 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 651 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 2 drew it, 0.31%; 1,068 resident applicants ranked it first and 180 drew it, 16.85%; 388 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 14 drew it, 3.61%.
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 | 1,068 | 180 | 16.85% | 1,278 | 210 | 84% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 651 | 2 | 0.31% | 1,295 | 15 | 6% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 388 | 14 | 3.61% | 722 | 25 | 10% |
| 2025 | Resident | 1,334 | 185 | 13.87% | 1,381 | 210 | 84% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 816 | 8 | 0.98% | 1,394 | 15 | 6% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 375 | 16 | 4.27% | 992 | 25 | 10% |
| 2024 | Resident | 1,337 | 193 | 14.44% | 1,341 | 210 | 84% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 758 | 13 | 1.72% | 1,355 | 15 | 6% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 314 | 17 | 5.41% | 958 | 25 | 10% |
| 2023 | Resident | 1,368 | 177 | 12.94% | 1,400 | 210 | 84% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 833 | 14 | 1.68% | 1,018 | 15 | 6% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 273 | 12 | 4.40% | 858 | 25 | 10% |
| 2022 | Resident | 25 | 11 | 44.00% | 197 | 76 | 84.44% |
| 2022 | Nonresident | 28 | 3 | 10.71% | 85 | 5 | 5.56% |
| 2022 | Guided (outfitter) | 26 | 4 | 15.38% | 44 | 9 | 10% |
| 2021 | Resident | 35 | 18 | 51.43% | 204 | 76 | 84.44% |
| 2021 | Nonresident | 40 | 0 | 0.00% | 78 | 5 | 5.56% |
| 2021 | Guided (outfitter) | 14 | 1 | 7.14% | 46 | 9 | 10% |
| 2020 | Resident | 19 | 18 | 94.74% | 203 | 76 | 84.44% |
| 2020 | Nonresident | 27 | 1 | 3.70% | 60 | 5 | 5.56% |
| 2020 | Guided (outfitter) | 5 | 3 | 60.00% | 40 | 9 | 10% |
| 2019 | Resident | 32 | 22 | 68.75% | 150 | 76 | — |
| 2019 | Nonresident | 28 | 4 | 14.29% | 84 | 5 | — |
| 2019 | Guided (outfitter) | 7 | 3 | 42.86% | 26 | 9 | — |
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 | 250 | 250 | 2,107 | 5,402 |
| 2025 | 250 | 250 | 2,525 | 6,292 |
| 2024 | 250 | 250 | 2,409 | 6,063 |
| 2023 | 250 | 250 | 2,474 | 5,750 |
| 2022 | 90 | 90 | 79 | 405 |
| 2021 | 90 | 90 | 89 | 417 |
| 2020 | 90 | 90 | 51 | 354 |
| 2019 | 90 | 90 | 67 | 327 |
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