New Mexico Unit 42 Elk Hunting Guide

Unit 42 sits in the low-elevation desert country of southern New Mexico, ranging from roughly 3,676 to 7,028 feet, and it's a unit that demands a clear-eyed look before hunters spend points or apply. Every elk hunt here runs through the draw — there is no general season in Unit 42, so hunters need to understand this as strictly a limited-quota proposition from the outset. With only 10% public land across the unit's nearly 2.75 million acres, this is also a unit where land access, not just tag odds, shapes the entire hunt.

For hunters weighing whether to spend an application on Unit 42, the numbers matter more than the reputation. This article breaks down what HuntPilot's data shows about harvest trends, access realities, and what hunters should expect if they draw a tag here.

Hunt Structure: A Draw-Only Unit

Unit 42 has no general elk season. Every opportunity to hunt elk here — including tags for antlered and either-sex animals — comes through New Mexico's limited-quota draw system. There's no walk-in, buy-an-over-the-counter-tag option in this unit; hunters must apply and be selected before they ever plan a trip. This distinction matters because it means every data point below — harvest counts, success rates, hunter numbers — reflects a pool of hunters who already went through the draw process to be there.

Harvest Success Rates

Recent harvest data shows a unit with a small, tightly controlled hunter pool and success rates that have trended upward:

• 2024: 39 hunters, 15 harvested — 38% success
• 2023: 39 hunters, 11 harvested — 28% success
• 2022: 30 hunters, 7 harvested — 23% success

That's a meaningful climb over three seasons, with success nearly doubling from 2022 to 2024. The hunter numbers themselves are small and stable — 30 to 39 hunters afield each year — which is typical of a limited-quota unit where tag numbers are deliberately capped. A 38% success rate in 2024 is a solid number for elk hunting generally, and the fact that it's trending in the right direction over three consecutive years is worth noting. That said, three years is a limited sample, and hunters should treat this as a positive trend rather than a guarantee — success rates on low-volume draw units can swing year to year based on weather, hunter effort, and where tag holders choose to hunt within the unit.

Access & Terrain

This is the section that separates Unit 42 from many other New Mexico elk units, and it deserves serious attention before anyone applies. Public land in Unit 42 sits at just 10% of the total acreage — meaning the overwhelming majority of this nearly 2.75-million-acre unit is privately held. There is no wilderness acreage reported for this unit.

With public land this limited, DIY access is a real constraint here. Hunters drawing a tag in Unit 42 need a plan for where they'll actually be allowed to hunt — that 10% figure means most of the landscape is off-limits without landowner permission, a lease arrangement, or a guided/outfitted hunt on private ground. This is not a unit where a hunter can simply draw a tag, show up, and expect to find open public ground to work in every direction. Scouting efforts should focus specifically on identifying where that public 10% actually lies relative to elk concentrations, and hunters should be realistic about how much of the unit's private land they can legally access.

The elevation range — from below 3,700 feet up to just over 7,000 feet — indicates desert and lower-elevation foothill terrain rather than high alpine country. This is consistent with southern New Mexico's characteristic mix of desert basins, scattered brush, and lower mountain terrain, rather than the high-country timber and alpine parks found in units farther north. Hunters should expect open, arid terrain types and plan glassing and stalking strategies accordingly, rather than assuming dense timber cover typical of higher-elevation elk country.

HuntPilot Analysis: Is Unit 42 Worth Applying For?

Unit 42 presents a mixed picture that depends heavily on what a hunter is looking for and how they plan to access the ground.

On the positive side, the harvest trend is genuinely encouraging. A climb from 23% success in 2022 to 38% in 2024, with hunter numbers holding steady in the low-to-mid 30s, suggests that hunters who do draw tags here are finding elk and connecting at a rate that compares favorably to many other limited-quota units nationally. This is not a unit where drawn hunters are going home empty-handed as a rule — the recent data points the other direction.

The significant caveat is access. With only 10% public land, Unit 42 is not a unit where a hunter can draw a tag and expect straightforward DIY access to huntable ground across the majority of the landscape. Hunters need to go in with a specific access strategy already in place — whether that means identifying the public parcels precisely, arranging permission on private land, or working with a landowner or outfitted operation. Hunters who draw a tag here without having sorted out access beforehand risk spending valuable hunt days simply trying to find a place to legally be, rather than hunting elk.

Trophy data is not available for this unit in the structured data reviewed for this article, so no qualitative trophy assessment can be made. Hunters interested specifically in trophy potential should look for units where that data has been documented rather than assuming Unit 42's antler quality based on its harvest numbers alone — success rate and trophy quality are not the same metric, and a high success rate can just as easily reflect an efficient harvest of younger bulls or cows as it can mature trophy animals.

Given the draw-only structure, the limited public land, and the absence of trophy data, Unit 42 is best suited to hunters who prioritize a reasonable chance at connecting on an elk and who have — or are willing to arrange — solid private-land access. It's a harder recommendation for hunters strictly chasing an open, public-land DIY experience or those solely focused on trophy-class bulls without more unit-specific antler data to lean on.

How to Apply

Because Unit 42 has no general season, every hunter pursuing elk here must go through New Mexico's draw system. New Mexico's application process works differently from many western states: there are no preference points or bonus points of any kind in New Mexico. Every application — resident or nonresident — carries identical odds each year regardless of how many times a hunter has applied before. A first-time applicant has exactly the same statistical chance as someone who has applied for a decade.

New Mexico's draw asks hunters to rank up to three hunt choices per species. Resident, nonresident, and outfitter-guided nonresident applicants are drawn from separate pools with different allocation caps, which is why nonresident odds typically run lower than resident odds for the same hunt — that gap comes from the pool structure, not from any points mechanic. Because there's nothing to bank or build, the only real strategic lever available to hunters is which specific hunts they list as their choices, and whether they apply every single year rather than skipping cycles waiting to "build up" anything — there's nothing to build.

Given the small hunter pool in Unit 42 (30-39 hunters annually across recent seasons), this is a genuinely limited-quota unit, and nonresident applicants in particular should expect a competitive draw given the separate, smaller nonresident allocation pool.

Application dates and fees change every cycle. For the current deadlines, fees, and draw odds, see HuntPilot's New Mexico page at /states/NM, or check New Mexico's official draw information directly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the terrain like in Unit 42?

Unit 42 spans a low elevation range, from approximately 3,676 to 7,028 feet, consistent with southern New Mexico's desert and lower-elevation foothill terrain. Hunters should expect open, arid country rather than dense high-country timber, with terrain that favors long-range glassing and careful stalking in more open cover types.

What is harvest success like in Unit 42?

Recent data shows harvest success climbing over three consecutive years: 23% in 2022, 28% in 2023, and 38% in 2024, with a stable hunter pool of 30-39 hunters each season. The 2024 figure in particular is a strong success rate for a limited-quota elk unit, though hunters should view three years as a limited sample and not assume the trend continues indefinitely.

Is Unit 42 worth applying for?

It depends on what a hunter values most. The harvest trend is genuinely positive, and hunters drawing tags here have had reasonable to strong success in recent seasons. However, with only 10% public land across the unit, DIY access is a serious constraint, and hunters need an access plan — public-land identification or private-land arrangements — before applying. Without trophy data available for this unit, hunters chasing trophy quality specifically should look elsewhere or seek additional unit-specific information before applying.

How big are the elk in Unit 42?

Trophy data is not available for this unit in the structured data reviewed here, so no reliable assessment of antler size or trophy quality can be made. Hunters specifically prioritizing trophy potential should consult HuntPilot's unit data for units where trophy records have been documented before making application decisions based on antler size.

Does Unit 42 have a general elk season?

No. Unit 42 has no general season — every elk hunt in the unit, including tags for antlered and either-sex animals, is allocated through New Mexico's limited-quota draw system. Hunters cannot buy an over-the-counter tag for this unit; a successful draw application is required to hunt elk here at all.