New Mexico · Elk · muzzleloader, crossbow or bow only
New Mexico elk hunt ELK-3-215
Unit 6A. 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 104 licences on hunt code ELK-3-215 in 2026 and issued 104 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 130 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 3 drew it, 2.31%; 537 resident applicants ranked it first and 63 drew it, 11.73%; 77 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 3 drew it, 3.90%.
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 | 537 | 63 | 11.73% | 667 | 88 | 84.62% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 130 | 3 | 2.31% | 207 | 6 | 5.77% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 77 | 3 | 3.90% | 139 | 10 | 9.61% |
| 2025 | Resident | 526 | 65 | 12.36% | 685 | 88 | 84.61% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 110 | 5 | 4.55% | 200 | 6 | 5.77% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 79 | 6 | 7.59% | 147 | 10 | 9.62% |
| 2024 | Resident | 473 | 67 | 14.16% | 649 | 88 | 84.62% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 111 | 6 | 5.41% | 180 | 6 | 5.77% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 69 | 6 | 8.70% | 96 | 10 | 9.61% |
| 2023 | Resident | 488 | 69 | 14.14% | 689 | 88 | 84.62% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 140 | 1 | 0.71% | 218 | 6 | 5.77% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 65 | 6 | 9.23% | 99 | 10 | 9.61% |
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 | 104 | 104 | 744 | 1,757 |
| 2025 | 104 | 104 | 715 | 1,747 |
| 2024 | 104 | 104 | 653 | 1,578 |
| 2023 | 104 | 104 | 693 | 1,699 |
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