Hopefully not too late to arrange something for this coming fall.
Friend I hunt with has an interest in hunting in NM. Would appreciate any suggestions or words of caution.
Fishtail Ranch Outfitters?
Thank you for your time.

Fred, welcome to AR. I'm sure there are folks here who know the ins and outs of Elk hunting in NM, and perhaps even the outfitter you mentioned.

Fred, hard to go wrong with Units 36 and 34 in the Sacramentos and contiguous with the Mescalero Reservation, where elk were so successfully reintroduced back in the previous mid-century.
The Mescaleros offer expensive hunts, but for magnificent bulls.
I see that Fishtail is way up north in Chama. Good country, too.
A historical note: the last native elk was killed in south-central NM about 1900. The elk in the Scaramentos were unique in that the bulls' antlers were not as long as those of Rocky Mountain elk in other parts of the American West, but had extremely thick bases.
There is a set of these antlers to be seen in the Sacramento Mountains Museum and Pioneer Village in Cloudcroft.

I have been hunting NM the last 8 years. I know nothing about Fishtail. Don't know how you came up with them but I would do my due diligence. Outfitter's are not all created equal. Also, what was good last year mightn't be this coming year. By that I mean ownership change, etc. You also need to find out what kind of hunt it is Horseback, Spot and Stalk, Sitting on meadows/parks in AM and PM. For your part, what kind of shape are you or will be for the hunt. You owe that to the Outfitter. Do you have to draw the tag to go? Can you buy a landowner tag if not? That can add a lot of cost to the hunt.
Even though it's fun. It's also business.
Good Luck!

Northern NM in the Chama area will be cheaper than any hunts farther south in the state. There is a good population in the north, but the bulls are smaller in general so they don't command the higher price. I don't have any recommendations in that area.

Farther south, I would talk with Butch Porter Porters Guide Service, or Chris Guikema at Compass West. Both are good operators and I have hunted with both.

Jeremy