New Mexico · Elk · bow only
New Mexico elk hunt ELK-2-359
Unit 36. 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 140 licences on hunt code ELK-2-359 in 2026 and issued 140 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 242 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 4 drew it, 1.65%; 429 resident applicants ranked it first and 95 drew it, 22.14%; 162 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 12 drew it, 7.41%.
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 | 429 | 95 | 22.14% | 925 | 118 | 84.29% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 242 | 4 | 1.65% | 661 | 8 | 5.71% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 162 | 12 | 7.41% | 340 | 14 | 10% |
| 2025 | Resident | 338 | 74 | 21.89% | 887 | 118 | 84.29% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 214 | 5 | 2.34% | 613 | 8 | 5.71% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 230 | 8 | 3.48% | 311 | 14 | 10% |
| 2024 | Resident | 423 | 79 | 18.68% | 908 | 118 | 84.29% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 230 | 1 | 0.43% | 553 | 8 | 5.71% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 175 | 5 | 2.86% | 308 | 14 | 10% |
| 2023 | Resident | 425 | 83 | 19.53% | 902 | 118 | 84.29% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 209 | 5 | 2.39% | 569 | 8 | 5.71% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 176 | 6 | 3.41% | 303 | 14 | 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 | 140 | 140 | 833 | 2,759 |
| 2025 | 140 | 140 | 782 | 2,593 |
| 2024 | 140 | 140 | 828 | 2,597 |
| 2023 | 140 | 140 | 810 | 2,584 |
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