New Mexico Elk ELK-1-181 — GMU 5B
Unit 5B — antlerless — Any Legal - NM — Oct. 17-21
- What you may take
- Unit 5B — antlerless — Any Legal - NM — Oct. 17-21
- Weapon
- Rifle
- Season (2026)
- Oct 17–21, 2026
- Tags (2026)
- 59
- for 182 first-choice applicants
- Hunter success here (2025)
- 35%
- of everyone who hunted the area
Showing resident results. Switch to nonresident
Odds by point level — 2026 draw
Prior-draw probability for a first-choice resident applicant. 59 tags, 182 first-choice applicants. Source: 2026 Big Game Drawing Odds... · sheet1 row 561.
| Points | Your chance | Applicants | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 21% | — | — |
First-choice tags drawn ÷ first-choice applicants, as published. A dash means New Mexico Department of Game and Fish did not publish a count for that level. How we compute these.
What it costs (2026 resident fees)
At the 2026 odds, expected cost per hunt-year ranges from $271.00 (enough points to draw) to $271.00 (lowest published odds).
Next application window: closes Mar 18, 2027 (expected) · results ~April 22. Last cycle's schedule rolled forward — confirm when the agency publishes.
Point creep & years to draw
No points in this draw — every applicant has the same chance each year, so there is no cut to creep and nothing to build toward.
Seasons (2026)
How this tag has hunted
Across every license type in GMU 5B, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish counted 656 hunters and 191 elk taken in 2025 — 35% of them killed something. Full GMU 5B profile: maps, public land, five years of harvest →
Post-season survey, not draw statistics. Source: 2025-2026 Elk Harvest Report 2024-2025 Elk Harvest Report
As a lower choice
Drawn at this choice ÷ applicants listing it at this choice, as published. Points do not help a lower choice.
Drawn at this choice ÷ applicants listing it at this choice, as published. Points do not help a lower choice.
Year by year
The standard draw for residents, one row per year.
| Year | Tags | Applicants | Applicants per tag | Points needed | Published odds | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 59 | 182 | 3.1 | — | 10% | 2026 Big Game Drawing Odds... · sheet1 row 561 |
| 2025 | 59 | 161 | 2.7 | — | 11% | 2025-26 Big-Game Drawing Odds... · sheet1 row 563 |
| 2024 | 59 | 200 | 3.4 | — | 11% | 2024-25 Big-Game Drawing Odds... · sheet1 row 572 |
| 2023 | 59 | 176 | 3.0 | — | 12% | 2023 Big-Game Complete Drawing... · sheet1 row 571 |
Other licenses valid in GMU 5B
Legal cartridges for elk in New Mexico
From the New Mexico hunting laws rules on file for a rifle. "Depends" means the rule turns on your specific load — check the state page.
Spot a data error on this page? Tell us.
How to read these numbers
Every percentage on this page is a prior-draw probability: the chance an applicant with that many points would have drawn in the draw year shown, computed from the agency's published results. It is not a forecast — quotas, applicant numbers, and point creep change every year. Every figure links to the agency document it came from. Where a state does not publish a number, we show a dash, never a zero. Hunts with fewer than five tags show counts instead of percentages. Fees show the fee year used. Read the methodology for the engine details.
Not an application service
This page is informational only. Draw rules, quotas, fees, and deadlines are set by the state agency and change by commission action — confirm everything on the agency's own site before you apply, and apply through the agency, not here. We disclaim all liability for reliance on this page.