New Mexico · Elk · bow only
New Mexico elk hunt ELK-2-305
Unit 17. 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 125 licences on hunt code ELK-2-305 in 2026 and issued 125 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 83 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 3 drew it, 3.61%; 157 resident applicants ranked it first and 64 drew it, 40.76%; 23 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 5 drew it, 21.74%.
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 | 157 | 64 | 40.76% | 364 | 105 | 84% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 83 | 3 | 3.61% | 249 | 8 | 6.4% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 23 | 5 | 21.74% | 157 | 12 | 9.6% |
| 2025 | Resident | 157 | 65 | 41.40% | 323 | 105 | 84% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 72 | 2 | 2.78% | 239 | 8 | 6.4% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 22 | 2 | 9.09% | 175 | 12 | 9.6% |
| 2024 | Resident | 135 | 57 | 42.22% | 342 | 105 | 84% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 111 | 5 | 4.50% | 374 | 8 | 6.4% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 41 | 5 | 12.20% | 158 | 12 | 9.6% |
| 2023 | Resident | 155 | 58 | 37.42% | 355 | 105 | 84% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 82 | 2 | 2.44% | 230 | 8 | 6.4% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 74 | 7 | 9.46% | 150 | 12 | 9.6% |
| 2022 | Resident | 7 | 4 | 57.14% | 44 | 13 | 86.67% |
| 2022 | Nonresident | 6 | 0 | 0.00% | 16 | 1 | 6.67% |
| 2022 | Guided (outfitter) | 1 | 1 | 100.00% | 1 | 1 | 6.66% |
| 2021 | Resident | 21 | 8 | 38.10% | 47 | 13 | 86.67% |
| 2021 | Nonresident | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 1 | 6.67% |
| 2021 | Guided (outfitter) | 1 | 1 | 100.00% | 0 | 1 | 6.67% |
| 2020 | Resident | 10 | 7 | 70.00% | 22 | 13 | 86.66% |
| 2020 | Nonresident | 11 | 0 | 0.00% | 15 | 1 | 6.67% |
| 2020 | Guided (outfitter) | 1 | 1 | 100.00% | 0 | 1 | 6.67% |
| 2019 | Resident | 8 | 6 | 75.00% | 26 | 14 | — |
| 2019 | Nonresident | 2 | 1 | 50.00% | 8 | 1 | — |
| 2019 | Guided (outfitter) | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — |
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 | 125 | 125 | 263 | 1,033 |
| 2025 | 125 | 125 | 251 | 988 |
| 2024 | 125 | 125 | 287 | 1,161 |
| 2023 | 125 | 125 | 311 | 1,046 |
| 2022 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 75 |
| 2021 | 15 | 15 | 22 | 76 |
| 2020 | 15 | 15 | 22 | 59 |
| 2019 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 46 |
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