New Mexico · Elk · bow only
New Mexico elk hunt ELK-2-279
Unit 16B/22. 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 225 licences on hunt code ELK-2-279 in 2026 and issued 225 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 185 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 8 drew it, 4.32%; 111 resident applicants ranked it first and 65 drew it, 58.56%; 50 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 7 drew it, 14.00%.
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 | 111 | 65 | 58.56% | 392 | 189 | 84% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 185 | 8 | 4.32% | 369 | 14 | 6.22% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 50 | 7 | 14.00% | 106 | 22 | 9.78% |
| 2025 | Resident | 143 | 88 | 61.54% | 441 | 189 | 84% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 205 | 7 | 3.41% | 395 | 14 | 6.22% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 88 | 16 | 18.18% | 107 | 22 | 9.78% |
| 2024 | Resident | 156 | 81 | 51.92% | 407 | 189 | 84% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 203 | 11 | 5.42% | 325 | 14 | 6.22% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 74 | 9 | 12.16% | 119 | 22 | 9.78% |
| 2023 | Resident | 175 | 94 | 53.71% | 530 | 189 | 84% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 186 | 8 | 4.30% | 475 | 14 | 6.22% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 124 | 17 | 13.71% | 183 | 22 | 9.78% |
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 | 225 | 225 | 346 | 1,213 |
| 2025 | 225 | 225 | 436 | 1,379 |
| 2024 | 225 | 225 | 433 | 1,284 |
| 2023 | 225 | 225 | 485 | 1,673 |
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