New Mexico · Elk · muzzleloader, crossbow or bow only
New Mexico elk hunt ELK-3-261
Unit 13. 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 126 licences on hunt code ELK-3-261 in 2026 and issued 126 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 21 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 3 drew it, 14.29%; 46 resident applicants ranked it first and 28 drew it, 60.87%; 32 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 4 drew it, 12.50%.
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 | 46 | 28 | 60.87% | 332 | 106 | 84.13% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 21 | 3 | 14.29% | 156 | 7 | 5.56% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 32 | 4 | 12.50% | 161 | 13 | 10.31% |
| 2025 | Resident | 64 | 26 | 40.63% | 317 | 106 | 84.12% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 40 | 5 | 12.50% | 163 | 7 | 5.56% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 21 | 0 | 0.00% | 193 | 13 | 10.32% |
| 2024 | Resident | 76 | 43 | 56.58% | 336 | 106 | 84.13% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 28 | 2 | 7.14% | 145 | 7 | 5.56% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 24 | 5 | 20.83% | 146 | 13 | 10.31% |
| 2023 | Resident | 64 | 30 | 46.88% | 258 | 106 | 84.13% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 42 | 5 | 11.90% | 122 | 7 | 5.56% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 29 | 4 | 13.79% | 113 | 13 | 10.31% |
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 | 126 | 126 | 99 | 748 |
| 2025 | 126 | 126 | 125 | 798 |
| 2024 | 126 | 126 | 128 | 755 |
| 2023 | 126 | 126 | 135 | 628 |
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