New Mexico · Elk · muzzleloader, crossbow or bow only
New Mexico elk hunt ELK-3-350
Unit 34. 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 250 licences on hunt code ELK-3-350 in 2026 and issued 250 — the hunt filled. Among the three pools the state draws separately, 317 nonresident applicants ranked it first and 8 drew it, 2.52%; 1,002 resident applicants ranked it first and 157 drew it, 15.67%; 165 guided (outfitter) applicants ranked it first and 12 drew it, 7.27%.
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 | 1,002 | 157 | 15.67% | 1,444 | 210 | 84% |
| 2026 | Nonresident | 317 | 8 | 2.52% | 729 | 15 | 6% |
| 2026 | Guided (outfitter) | 165 | 12 | 7.27% | 428 | 25 | 10% |
| 2025 | Resident | 1,104 | 132 | 11.96% | 1,430 | 210 | 84% |
| 2025 | Nonresident | 319 | 8 | 2.51% | 730 | 15 | 6% |
| 2025 | Guided (outfitter) | 148 | 18 | 12.16% | 331 | 25 | 10% |
| 2024 | Resident | 1,009 | 144 | 14.27% | 1,456 | 210 | 84% |
| 2024 | Nonresident | 289 | 8 | 2.77% | 652 | 15 | 6% |
| 2024 | Guided (outfitter) | 180 | 15 | 8.33% | 369 | 25 | 10% |
| 2023 | Resident | 1,154 | 163 | 14.12% | 1,418 | 210 | 84% |
| 2023 | Nonresident | 356 | 11 | 3.09% | 693 | 15 | 6% |
| 2023 | Guided (outfitter) | 165 | 13 | 7.88% | 374 | 25 | 10% |
| 2022 | Resident | 76 | 23 | 30.26% | 126 | 42 | 84% |
| 2022 | Nonresident | 35 | 2 | 5.71% | 75 | 3 | 6% |
| 2022 | Guided (outfitter) | 5 | 1 | 20.00% | 16 | 5 | 10% |
| 2021 | Resident | 80 | 30 | 37.50% | 118 | 42 | 84% |
| 2021 | Nonresident | 18 | 3 | 16.67% | 41 | 3 | 6% |
| 2021 | Guided (outfitter) | 0 | 0 | — | 11 | 5 | 10% |
| 2020 | Resident | 72 | 29 | 40.28% | 107 | 42 | 84% |
| 2020 | Nonresident | 21 | 1 | 4.76% | 42 | 3 | 6% |
| 2020 | Guided (outfitter) | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 5 | 10% |
| 2019 | Resident | 61 | 33 | 54.10% | 132 | 42 | — |
| 2019 | Nonresident | 22 | 3 | 13.64% | 54 | 3 | — |
| 2019 | Guided (outfitter) | 2 | 1 | 50.00% | 10 | 5 | — |
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 | 1,484 | 4,085 |
| 2025 | 250 | 250 | 1,571 | 4,062 |
| 2024 | 250 | 250 | 1,478 | 3,955 |
| 2023 | 250 | 250 | 1,675 | 4,160 |
| 2022 | 50 | 50 | 116 | 333 |
| 2021 | 50 | 50 | 98 | 268 |
| 2020 | 50 | 50 | 93 | 248 |
| 2019 | 50 | 50 | 85 | 281 |
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
- 2022-Complete-Report.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2022-04-12, fetched 2026-08-31
- 2021-Big-Game-Drawing-Odds-Complete-Report.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2021-04-14, fetched 2026-08-31
- 2020-Drawing-Odds-Complete-Report.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2020-08-03, fetched 2026-08-31
- 2019-Drawing-Odds-Complete-Report.xlsx — New Mexico Department of Wildlife, published 2019-06-26, fetched 2026-08-31