New Mexico · Elk · muzzleloader, crossbow or bow only
New Mexico elk hunt ELK-3-159
Unit 10. Bag limit mature bull (MB). 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 70 licences on hunt code ELK-3-159 in 2026 and issued 70 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 53 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 3 drew it, 5.66%; 187 resident applicants ranked it first and 39 drew it, 20.86%; 36 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 4 drew it, 11.11%.
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 | 187 | 39 | 20.86% | 313 | 59 | 84.29% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 53 | 3 | 5.66% | 75 | 4 | 5.71% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 36 | 4 | 11.11% | 86 | 7 | 10% |
| 2025 | Resident | 157 | 44 | 28.03% | 342 | 59 | 84.29% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 30 | 2 | 6.67% | 66 | 4 | 5.71% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 23 | 2 | 8.70% | 51 | 7 | 10% |
| 2024 | Resident | 139 | 40 | 28.78% | 349 | 59 | 84.29% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 32 | 4 | 12.50% | 50 | 4 | 5.71% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 31 | 5 | 16.13% | 40 | 7 | 10% |
| 2023 | Resident | 161 | 31 | 19.25% | 327 | 59 | 84.29% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 32 | 2 | 6.25% | 55 | 4 | 5.71% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 35 | 5 | 14.29% | 36 | 7 | 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 | 70 | 70 | 276 | 750 |
| 2025 | 70 | 70 | 210 | 669 |
| 2024 | 70 | 70 | 202 | 641 |
| 2023 | 70 | 70 | 228 | 646 |
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