New Mexico · Elk · muzzleloader, crossbow or bow only
New Mexico elk hunt ELK-3-201
Unit 51. 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 145 licences on hunt code ELK-3-201 in 2026 and issued 145 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 46 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 6 drew it, 13.04%; 117 resident applicants ranked it first and 51 drew it, 43.59%; 18 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 11 drew it, 61.11%.
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 | 117 | 51 | 43.59% | 386 | 122 | 84.14% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 46 | 6 | 13.04% | 115 | 9 | 6.21% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 18 | 11 | 61.11% | 34 | 14 | 9.65% |
| 2025 | Resident | 139 | 57 | 41.01% | 397 | 122 | 84.13% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 57 | 4 | 7.02% | 180 | 9 | 6.21% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 7 | 1 | 14.29% | 45 | 14 | 9.66% |
| 2024 | Resident | 96 | 42 | 43.75% | 370 | 122 | 84.14% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 36 | 3 | 8.33% | 116 | 9 | 6.21% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 11 | 7 | 63.64% | 30 | 14 | 9.65% |
| 2023 | Resident | 126 | 53 | 42.06% | 362 | 122 | 84.14% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 52 | 8 | 15.38% | 151 | 9 | 6.2% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 5 | 5 | 100.00% | 18 | 14 | 9.66% |
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 | 145 | 145 | 181 | 716 |
| 2025 | 145 | 145 | 203 | 825 |
| 2024 | 145 | 145 | 143 | 659 |
| 2023 | 145 | 145 | 183 | 714 |
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