AmmoSight

New Mexico Elk — GMU 9

New Mexico GMU 9 covers 2,129,765 acres and lies 31 miles west of Rio Rancho. 27% of it is public land, mostly BLM (11%) and national forest (9%). A further 29% is tribal land rather than public land. In 2025, 435 people hunted elk here and took 132 — 27% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 7 tags here for 0 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):27 Nonresident share:capped at 6% Applicants:49 Hunter success (2025):27% Public land:27% Size:2,129,765 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in GMU 9, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

No points in this draw — every nonresident applicant has the same chance.

22 licenses on offer · 27 tags · 49 applicants in the 2026 draw

Chances are from the 2026 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level
  • ELK-2-146 Unit 9 Marquez/LBar WMA only — either sex — Bow — Sept. 1-14 0 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    — Not open to nonresidents
  • ELK-2-146 Unit 9 Marquez/LBar WMA only — either sex — Bow — Sept. 1-14 0 tags · 0 applicants · Outfitter
    — Not open to nonresidents
  • ELK-2-147 Unit 9 Marquez/LBar WMA only — either sex — Bow — Sept. 15-24 0 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    — Not open to nonresidents
  • ELK-2-147 Unit 9 Marquez/LBar WMA only — either sex — Bow — Sept. 15-24 0 tags · 0 applicants · Outfitter
    — Not open to nonresidents
  • ELK-2-151 Unit 9, including Water Canyon WMA — either sex — Bow — Sept. 1-14 5 tags · 17 applicants · Standard
    18% Long shot 10% as 2nd choice
  • ELK-2-151 Unit 9, including Water Canyon WMA — either sex — Bow — Sept. 1-14 0 tags · 0 applicants · Outfitter
    — Not open to nonresidents
  • ELK-2-152 Unit 9, including Water Canyon WMA — either sex — Bow — Sept. 15-24 5 tags · 21 applicants · Standard
    14% Long shot 15% as 2nd choice
  • ELK-2-152 Unit 9, including Water Canyon WMA — either sex — Bow — Sept. 15-24 7 tags · 0 applicants · Outfitter
    100% No first-choice applicants 100% as 2nd choice
  • ELK-3-148 Unit 9 Marquez/LBar WMA only — mature bull — Muzzle — Oct. 10-14 0 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    — Not open to nonresidents
  • ELK-3-148 Unit 9 Marquez/LBar WMA only — mature bull — Muzzle — Oct. 10-14 1 tags · 0 applicants · Outfitter
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • ELK-3-149 Unit 9 Marquez/LBar WMA only — mature bull — Muzzle — Oct. 17-21 0 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    — Not open to nonresidents
  • ELK-3-149 Unit 9 Marquez/LBar WMA only — mature bull — Muzzle — Oct. 17-21 0 tags · 0 applicants · Outfitter
    — Not open to nonresidents
  • ELK-3-150 Unit 9 Marquez/LBar WMA only — mature bull — Muzzle — Oct. 24-28 0 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    — Not open to nonresidents
  • ELK-3-150 Unit 9 Marquez/LBar WMA only — mature bull — Muzzle — Oct. 24-28 0 tags · 0 applicants · Outfitter
    — Not open to nonresidents
  • ELK-3-153 Unit 9, including Water Canyon WMA - mobility impaired only — mature bull — Muzzle - Mobility — Oct. 10-14 1 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants 100% as 2nd choice
  • ELK-3-153 Unit 9, including Water Canyon WMA - mobility impaired only — mature bull — Muzzle - Mobility — Oct. 10-14 0 tags · 0 applicants · Outfitter
    — Not open to nonresidents
  • ELK-3-154 Unit 9, including Water Canyon WMA — mature bull — Muzzle — Oct. 17-21 2 tags · 4 applicants · Standard
    0% Long shot 40% as 2nd choice
  • ELK-3-154 Unit 9, including Water Canyon WMA — mature bull — Muzzle — Oct. 17-21 2 tags · 0 applicants · Outfitter
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • ELK-3-155 Unit 9, including Water Canyon WMA — mature bull — Muzzle — Oct. 24-28 2 tags · 6 applicants · Standard
    0% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • ELK-3-155 Unit 9, including Water Canyon WMA — mature bull — Muzzle — Oct. 24-28 1 tags · 0 applicants · Outfitter
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • ELK-3-156 Unit 9, including Water Canyon WMA — mature bull — Muzzle — Oct. 31-Nov. 4 1 tags · 1 applicants · Standard
    100% Likely draw 0% as 2nd choice
  • ELK-3-156 Unit 9, including Water Canyon WMA — mature bull — Muzzle — Oct. 31-Nov. 4 0 tags · 0 applicants · Outfitter
    — Not open to nonresidents
What these columns mean
Your odds
—
the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2026 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
The badge
—
plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
As 2nd choice
—
New Mexico lets you name more than one hunt on the application. Miss on your first choice and you go into the pot for whatever tags are left, alongside everyone else's second choices. Points never help a lower choice, so this number is the same whatever you have banked — it is usually worth naming a hunt that goes undersubscribed.
Points needed
—
the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2026 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
Tags / applicants
—
tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.

What it costs to apply (2026 nonresident fees)

License Up front Gone if you miss If you draw
Standard license $867 $107 $877
Outfitter license $867 $107 $877

Application window: closes Mar 18, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

The country

Grants Rio Communities Santa Fe Socorro Bloomfield
GMU 9 within New Mexico
10 12 13 14 45 6A 6B 6C 7 Grants Rio Rancho Albuquerque Los Lunas Rio Communities
GMU 9 and its neighbours
Zoomable USGS topo, aerial imagery and shaded relief, with the neighboring areas drawn on.

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

Who owns the ground

  • Tribal 612,891 ac · 29%
  • BLM 233,825 ac · 11%
  • National Forest 185,428 ac · 9%
  • State trust land 85,523 ac · 4%
  • State land 71,577 ac · 3%
  • National Park Service 7,100 ac · 0%
  • Private or other non-public land 933,419 ac · 44%

Source: BLM_Surface_Management_2023 (BLM New Mexico State Office Surface Management Agency layer)

Nearby areas

How the hunting has gone

What New Mexico Department of Game and Fish publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast.

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2025 435 132 27%
2024 454 170 31%
2023 443 148 29%
2022 490 123 22%
2021 504 151 25%

What people carried (2025 harvest)

  • Muzzleloader 30 · 48% · 163 hunters, 18% success
  • Archery 13 · 21% · 226 hunters, 6% success
  • Rifle 20 · 32% · 65 hunters, 31% success

What the agency says about the area

GMU 9: Beginning at Prewitt at the junction of I-40 and CR 19 (the road to Hospah) and running north along the CR 19 to its intersection with Inditos draw, then south and east down Inditos draw to its junction with Voght draw, then east down Voght draw to its junction with arroyo Chico, then east down arroyo Chico to its intersection with the BLM road 1103 (the San Luis road, leading from...

Source: NM Game Management Units (NMDGF_Game_Management_Units_I_E__v2_WFL1), layer 0

Boundary: NM Game Management Units (NMDGF_Game_Management_Units_I_E__v2_WFL1), layer 0

Harvest: 2025-2026 Elk Harvest Report

Harvest: 2024-2025 Elk Harvest Report

Harvest: 2023 New Mexico Elk Hunter Harvest Report

How we compute draw odds · All New Mexico elk hunts