New Mexico Elk · GMU 51
New Mexico GMU 51 covers 635,021 acres and lies 34 miles north of Española. 88% of it is public land, mostly national forest (81%) and BLM (5%). In 2025, 2,227 people hunted elk here and took 857, a 39% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, ELK-1-195, put up 13 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 298 nonresident first-choice applicants, 10 of whom drew.
No points in this draw. Every applicant has the same chance each year.
18 licenses · NR capped at 6%
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
92% Forest Service
635,021 acres
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.
- Success
- 39%
- Season
- Oct 17–21
- Tags / Apps
- 22 / 59
- If Drawn
- $877
- Success
- 39%
- Season
- Oct 24–28
- Tags / Apps
- 22 / 24
- If Drawn
- $877
- Success
- 39%
- Season
- Sep 1–14
- Tags / Apps
- 18 / 70
- If Drawn
- $877
- Success
- 39%
- Season
- Dec 5–9
- Tags / Apps
- 14 / 18
- If Drawn
- $877
Every License in GMU 51
| What | Season | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ELK-1-195 Standard | Unit 51 — mature bull — Any Legal — Oct. 10-14 | 3% | |
| ELK-1-195 Outfitter | Unit 51 — mature bull — Any Legal — Oct. 10-14 | 7% | |
| ELK-1-196 Standard | Unit 51 — mature bull — Any Legal — Oct. 17-21 | 5% | |
| ELK-1-196 Outfitter | Unit 51 — mature bull — Any Legal — Oct. 17-21 | 19% | |
| ELK-1-197 Standard | Unit 51 — mature bull — Any Legal — Oct. 24-28 | 8% | |
| ELK-1-197 Outfitter | Unit 51 — mature bull — Any Legal — Oct. 24-28 | 29% | |
| ELK-1-198 Standard | Unit 51 — antlerless — Any Legal - NM — Nov. 7-11 | not open | |
| ELK-1-198 Outfitter | Unit 51 — antlerless — Any Legal - NM — Nov. 7-11 | 100% (small sample) | |
| ELK-1-199 Standard | Unit 51 — antlerless — Any Legal - NM — Nov. 14-18 | not open | |
| ELK-1-199 Outfitter | Unit 51 — antlerless — Any Legal - NM — Nov. 14-18 | not open | |
| ELK-1-200 Standard | Unit 51 — antlerless — Any Legal - NM — Nov. 21-25 | not open | |
| ELK-1-200 Outfitter | Unit 51 — antlerless — Any Legal - NM — Nov. 21-25 | not open | |
| ELK-2-193 Standard | Unit 51 — either sex — Bow — Sept. 1-14 | 1% | |
| ELK-2-193 Outfitter | Unit 51 — either sex — Bow — Sept. 1-14 | 21% | |
| ELK-2-194 Standard | Unit 51 — either sex — Bow — Sept. 15-24 | 4% | |
| ELK-2-194 Outfitter | Unit 51 — either sex — Bow — Sept. 15-24 | 9% | |
| ELK-3-201 Standard | Unit 51 — either sex — Muzzle — Dec. 5-9 | 13% | |
| ELK-3-201 Outfitter | Unit 51 — either sex — Muzzle — Dec. 5-9 | 61% |
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 | 2,227 | 857 | 39% |
| 2024 | 2,190 | 779 | 35% |
| 2023 | 2,180 | 794 | 36% |
| 2022 | 2,126 | 778 | 33% |
| 2021 | 2,145 | 748 | 32% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reg · rifle · 251 licenses (hunt 1 of 3) | 230 | 60 | 27% |
| Reg · rifle · 251 licenses (hunt 3 of 3) | 228 | 57 | 26% |
| Reg · rifle · 251 licenses (hunt 2 of 3) | 230 | 84 | 37% |
| Youth enc. · 103 licenses | 100 | 38 | 41% |
| Youth enc. · 105 licenses | 101 | 42 | 44% |
| Reg · archery (hunt 2 of 2) | 204 | 36 | 18% |
| Reg · archery (hunt 1 of 2) | 215 | 32 | 15% |
| Mip | 43 | 13 | 27% |
| Reg · muzzleloader · 119 licenses | 107 | 22 | 20% |
| Reg · muzzleloader · 50 licenses | 46 | 5 | 13% |
| Reg · rifle · 231 licenses | 209 | 71 | 34% |
| Reg · rifle · 230 licenses | 204 | 55 | 28% |
2025 split: rifle 407 (79%) from 1,302 hunters, 31%, archery 68 (13%) from 419 hunters, 16%, muzzleloader 40 (8%) from 196 hunters, 20%
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 | 514,739 ac | 81% |
| BLM | 32,637 ac | 5% |
| State trust land | 10,370 ac | 2% |
| State land | 17 ac | <1% |
| Private or other non-public land | 77,257 ac | 12% |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Office 2023 BLM_Surface_Management_2023.
▸ Sources 10
- NMDGF 2026 Big Game Drawing Odds Complete Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- NMDGF 2026-2027 Draw Hunt License Fees / Draw… fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- NMDGF 2026-2027 Over-the-Counter License Fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- NMDGF 2025-2026 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- NMDGF 2024-2025 Elk Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- NMDGF 2023 Elk Hunter Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- NMDGF 2022 Elk Hunter Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- NMDGF 2021 Elk Hunter Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- NMDGF 2026 NM Game Management Units, layer 0 boundary, area description, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- 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.
Report an error on this page
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 · All New Mexico elk hunts