New Mexico · Elk · bow only
New Mexico elk hunt ELK-2-291
Unit 16D. 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 90 licences on hunt code ELK-2-291 in 2026 and issued 90 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 329 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 4 drew it, 1.22%; 254 resident applicants ranked it first and 61 drew it, 24.02%; 130 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 5 drew it, 3.85%.
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 | 254 | 61 | 24.02% | 343 | 76 | 84.44% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 329 | 4 | 1.22% | 401 | 5 | 5.56% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 130 | 5 | 3.85% | 166 | 9 | 10% |
| 2025 | Resident | 327 | 68 | 20.80% | 367 | 76 | 84.44% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 318 | 3 | 0.94% | 448 | 5 | 5.56% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 252 | 8 | 3.17% | 233 | 9 | 10% |
| 2024 | Resident | 333 | 62 | 18.62% | 366 | 76 | 84.44% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 309 | 3 | 0.97% | 456 | 5 | 5.56% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 206 | 8 | 3.88% | 198 | 9 | 10% |
| 2023 | Resident | 377 | 66 | 17.51% | 471 | 76 | 84.44% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 351 | 2 | 0.57% | 501 | 5 | 5.56% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 289 | 7 | 2.42% | 243 | 9 | 10% |
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 | 90 | 90 | 713 | 1,623 |
| 2025 | 90 | 90 | 897 | 1,945 |
| 2024 | 90 | 90 | 848 | 1,868 |
| 2023 | 90 | 90 | 1,017 | 2,232 |
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