New Mexico · Elk · muzzleloader, crossbow or bow only
New Mexico elk hunt ELK-3-269
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 250 licences on hunt code ELK-3-269 in 2026 and issued 250 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 87 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 11 drew it, 12.64%; 176 resident applicants ranked it first and 80 drew it, 45.45%; 41 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 9 drew it, 21.95%.
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 | 176 | 80 | 45.45% | 671 | 210 | 84% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 87 | 11 | 12.64% | 357 | 15 | 6% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 41 | 9 | 21.95% | 244 | 25 | 10% |
| 2025 | Resident | 157 | 82 | 52.23% | 642 | 210 | 84% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 72 | 3 | 4.17% | 312 | 15 | 6% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 36 | 6 | 16.67% | 255 | 25 | 10% |
| 2024 | Resident | 136 | 53 | 38.97% | 703 | 210 | 84% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 67 | 5 | 7.46% | 341 | 15 | 6% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 39 | 8 | 20.51% | 223 | 25 | 10% |
| 2023 | Resident | 144 | 67 | 46.53% | 618 | 210 | 84% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 86 | 3 | 3.49% | 333 | 15 | 6% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 49 | 11 | 22.45% | 219 | 25 | 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 | 250 | 250 | 304 | 1,576 |
| 2025 | 250 | 250 | 265 | 1,474 |
| 2024 | 250 | 250 | 242 | 1,509 |
| 2023 | 250 | 250 | 279 | 1,449 |
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