New Mexico · Elk · muzzleloader, crossbow or bow only
New Mexico elk hunt ELK-3-267
Unit 15. 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 200 licences on hunt code ELK-3-267 in 2026 and issued 200 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 399 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 5 drew it, 1.25%; 1,174 resident applicants ranked it first and 143 drew it, 12.18%; 193 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 14 drew it, 7.25%.
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 | 1,174 | 143 | 12.18% | 1,321 | 168 | 84% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 399 | 5 | 1.25% | 533 | 12 | 6% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 193 | 14 | 7.25% | 385 | 20 | 10% |
| 2025 | Resident | 1,311 | 145 | 11.06% | 1,330 | 168 | 84% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 408 | 9 | 2.21% | 616 | 12 | 6% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 168 | 7 | 4.17% | 352 | 20 | 10% |
| 2024 | Resident | 1,300 | 147 | 11.31% | 1,383 | 168 | 84% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 485 | 8 | 1.65% | 620 | 12 | 6% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 160 | 8 | 5.00% | 367 | 20 | 10% |
| 2023 | Resident | 1,381 | 140 | 10.14% | 1,341 | 168 | 84% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 406 | 8 | 1.97% | 577 | 12 | 6% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 166 | 8 | 4.82% | 387 | 20 | 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 | 200 | 200 | 1,766 | 4,005 |
| 2025 | 200 | 200 | 1,887 | 4,185 |
| 2024 | 200 | 200 | 1,945 | 4,315 |
| 2023 | 200 | 200 | 1,953 | 4,258 |
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