New Mexico Elk · GMU 7
New Mexico GMU 7 spans 2,189,704 acres, centered 52 miles south of Bloomfield. 36% of it is public land, mostly BLM (31%) and state trust land (4%). A further 55% is tribal land rather than public land. In 2025, 190 people hunted elk here and took 107, a 40% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, ELK-2-242, put up 1 tag (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 11 nonresident first-choice applicants.
No points in this draw. Every applicant has the same chance each year.
10 licenses · NR capped at 6%
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
35% BLM
2,189,704 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Every License in GMU 7
| What | Season | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ELK-1-244 Standard | Unit 7 — mature bull — Any Legal — Oct. 17-21 | 0% (small sample) | |
| ELK-1-244 Outfitter | Unit 7 — mature bull — Any Legal — Oct. 17-21 | 100% (small sample) | |
| ELK-1-245 Standard | Unit 7 — antlerless — Any Legal - NM — Oct. 24-28 | not open | |
| ELK-1-245 Outfitter | Unit 7 — antlerless — Any Legal - NM — Oct. 24-28 | not open | |
| ELK-2-241 Standard | Unit 7 — either sex — Bow — Sept. 1-14 | 0% (small sample) | |
| ELK-2-241 Outfitter | Unit 7 — either sex — Bow — Sept. 1-14 | 100% (small sample) | |
| ELK-2-242 Standard | Unit 7 — either sex — Bow — Sept. 15-24 | 0% (small sample) | |
| ELK-2-242 Outfitter | Unit 7 — either sex — Bow — Sept. 15-24 | 100% (small sample) | |
| ELK-3-243 Standard | Unit 7 — mature bull — Muzzle — Oct. 10-14 | 0% (small sample) | |
| ELK-3-243 Outfitter | Unit 7 — mature bull — Muzzle — Oct. 10-14 | 100% (small sample) |
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 | 190 | 107 | 40% |
| 2024 | 244 | 113 | 38% |
| 2023 | 197 | 103 | 41% |
| 2022 (summed) | 287 | 101 | 35% |
| 2021 (summed) | 277 | 98 | 35% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reg · rifle · 30 licenses | 25 | 5 | 20% |
| Reg · archery · 36 licenses | 30 | 5 | 15% |
| Reg · archery · 35 licenses | 31 | 9 | 27% |
| Reg · archery · 25 licenses | 22 | 2 | 15% |
| Reg · rifle · 35 licenses | 33 | 19 | 58% |
| Reg · rifle · 60 licenses | 56 | 25 | 44% |
| Reg · rifle · 80 licenses | 75 | 29 | 40% |
2025 split: rifle 78 (83%) from 189 hunters, 41%, archery 16 (17%) from 83 hunters, 19%
What New Mexico Department of Game and Fish publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish publishes no whole-GMU line for some years; a year's total is the sum of published rows, added only where the lines do not overlap. Source: NMDGF 2025-2026 Elk Harvest Report; NMDGF 2024-2025 Elk Harvest Report; NMDGF 2023 Elk Hunter Harvest Report.
The Ground
| Tribal | 1,197,410 ac | 55% |
| BLM | 686,376 ac | 31% |
| State trust land | 84,926 ac | 4% |
| National Forest | 7,574 ac | <1% |
| State land | 308 ac | <1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 250 ac | <1% |
| Private or other non-public land | 212,858 ac | 10% |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Office 2023 BLM_Surface_Management_2023.
What the Agency Says About the Area
GMU 7: Beginning at the intersection of the east boundary of the Navajo Reservation and the road between Crownpoint and Standing Rock and running north along the reservation boundary to the northeastern corner immediately west of Farmington, then east along the San Juan River to its intersection with US 550 at Bloomfi eld, then southeast along US 550 to its intersection with the west boundary...
▸ 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. How we compute these.
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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