AmmoSight

New Mexico Elk · GMU 36

New Mexico GMU 36 covers 635,192 acres and lies 3 miles north-west of Ruidoso and 13 miles south-west of Capitan. 61% of it is public land, mostly national forest (24%) and state trust land (23%). In 2025, 1,400 people hunted elk here and took 978, a 57% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, ELK-1-361, put up 8 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 442 nonresident first-choice applicants, 2 of whom drew.

No points in this draw. Every applicant has the same chance each year.

Tags, 2026
132

16 licenses · NR capped at 6%

Applicants
1,928

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
57%

2025, all licenses

Public Land
61%

39% Forest Service

Size
992 mi²

635,192 acres

Capitan Tularosa Alamogordo 36
57%hunter success 2025 · 1,400 hunters, 978 elk

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Best Bets

Ranked by your odds times how often that license type's hunters filled their tag in 2025. Nonresident, first choice, 2026 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.

ELK-1-362
Outfitter · any elk
5%
Unit 36 — either sex — Any Legal — Oct. 31-Nov. 4
Success
57%
Season
Oct 31 – Nov 4
Tags / Apps
14 / 75
If Drawn
$877
ELK-1-363
Outfitter · cow
100%
Unit 36 — antlerless — Any Legal - NM — Dec. 5-9
Success
57%
Season
Dec 5–9
Tags / Apps
10 / 2
If Drawn
$877
ELK-2-358
Outfitter · any elk
8%
Unit 36 — either sex — Bow — Sept. 1-14
Success
57%
Season
Sep 1–14
Tags / Apps
14 / 99
If Drawn
$877
ELK-2-359
Outfitter · any elk
7%
Unit 36 — either sex — Bow — Sept. 15-24
Success
57%
Season
Sep 15–24
Tags / Apps
14 / 162
If Drawn
$877

Every License in GMU 36

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
ELK-1-361 Standard <1%
Outfitter 2%
ELK-1-362 Standard 1%
Outfitter 5%
ELK-1-363 Standard not open
Outfitter 100%
ELK-1-364 Standard not open
Outfitter 100%
ELK-1-365 Standard not open
Outfitter 100%
ELK-2-358 Standard 3%
Outfitter 8%
ELK-2-359 Standard 2%
Outfitter 7%
ELK-3-360 Standard 3%
Outfitter 5%

First-choice nonresident odds, 2026 draw. No points in this draw: every applicant has the same chance.

Draw results: NMDGF 2026 Big Game Drawing Odds Complete Report, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.

If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): Standard $877 ($867 to apply) · Outfitter $877 ($867 to apply). Closes Mar 17, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

Harvest

Year Hunters Elk Success
2025 1,400 978 57%
2024 1,429 949 56%
2023 1,371 1,027 60%
2022 1,264 892 57%
2021 1,275 834 55%
2025 by LicenseHuntersElkSuccess
Reg · rifle · 101 licenses 93 46 51%
Reg · rifle · 100 licenses (hunt 1 of 2) 90 52 55%
Reg · rifle · 100 licenses (hunt 2 of 2) 90 42 49%
Youth enc. · 85 licenses 82 56 68%
Youth enc. · 80 licenses 77 50 68%
Reg · archery · 75 licenses 68 20 28%
Reg · archery · 73 licenses 70 29 42%
Reg · muzzleloader · 136 licenses 127 26 22%
Reg · muzzleloader · 49 licenses 43 3 8%

2025 split: rifle 246 (76%) from 432 hunters, 57%, archery 49 (15%) from 138 hunters, 36%, muzzleloader 29 (9%) from 170 hunters, 17%

What New Mexico Department of Game and Fish publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. Source: NMDGF 2025-2026 Elk Harvest Report; NMDGF 2024-2025 Elk Harvest Report; NMDGF 2023 Elk Hunter Harvest Report.

The Ground

National Forest 151,902 ac 24%
State trust land 145,757 ac 23%
BLM 90,380 ac 14%
State land 1,327 ac <1%
Tribal 63 ac <1%
Department of Defense 0 ac <1%
Private or other non-public land 245,760 ac 39%

Source: U.S. Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Office 2023 BLM_Surface_Management_2023.

Next Door

What the Agency Says About the Area

GMU 36: Beginning at the junction of Otero county road B006 and the east boundary of the White Sands missile range at Tularosa gate and running north along the east boundary to its intersection with the Lincoln-Otero county line, then east along the county line to its intersection with US 54, then north along US 54 to its intersection with US 380 at Carrizozo, then east along US 380 to its...

Source: NMDGF 2026 NM Game Management Units, layer 0.

▸ Sources 10
  1. NMDGF 2026 Big Game Drawing Odds Complete Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  2. NMDGF 2026-2027 Draw Hunt License Fees / Draw… fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  3. NMDGF 2026-2027 Over-the-Counter License Fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  4. NMDGF 2025-2026 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  5. NMDGF 2024-2025 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  6. NMDGF 2023 Elk Hunter Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  7. NMDGF 2022 Elk Hunter Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  8. NMDGF 2021 Elk Hunter Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  9. NMDGF 2026 NM Game Management Units, layer 0 boundary, area description, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  10. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Office 2023 BLM_Surface_Management_2023 land ownership, retrieved Sep 1, 2026

About These Numbers

Odds are from the 2026 draw, the latest on file, computed from New Mexico Department of Game and Fish's published results. They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward. How we compute these.

Report an error on this page

Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

We don't take applications: check New Mexico Department of Game and Fish's site and apply there.

Prior-draw odds from New Mexico Department of Game and Fish's results, not a forecast · Methodology · All New Mexico elk hunts