Tim. I'll tackle the part of your question about calls. I hunt with a group in SW Colorado and to a man, we all use the Woods Wise "Hyper hot Cow Call." Cabela's among other venders sells it (Don't know if you have access to their magazine but they are on line at www.cabelas.com). Cabelas is one of the biggest and best known outdoor/hunting/shooting/camping stores in America.
The address of the Woodswise company is
Woods Wise P.O. Box 681552(v) Franklin, TN 37068. The kit I purchased is part of the "Callmasters Series" entitled Vocal Elk. It includes a VHS tape, the call, and a cassette you can drive your wife or whomever crazy in the truck listening to it. Other companies make good calls, but we have enjoyed great success with this particular call. The cow call is a versatile device because it works regardless of whether the rut is in progress or not. Biologists have chronicled a range of different elk vocalizations and all are covered in the VHS tape with detailed explanations. My first bull was summoned in using this call - he bugled at us in response to our calling. Other times we have stopped elk dead in their tracks using one or a combination of calls. Hope this helps.