I' ve called in many cows over the years, some purposley, some by accident. With a few adjustments, I can now call them in on a regular basis. I have many different methods, for different situations. I' ve got 3 basic ones that I use. I' ll share two with you. With these 2 I' ve called in 100' s of cows.
First thing I do in any case is to locate aprox. area where there' s elk. I find about where they' re feeding, and aprox. where they bed. Very important, make sure there' s elk in a given area before you waste your time calling. These methods work best with two hunters, a caller and a shooter, but will work if you' re alone.
If it' s morning, I get between feeding grounds and bedding area, get the wind in my favor. As long as I' m within 1/4 mile of where they should pass, they can be called over, but closer is better. Have the caller 50 to 60yds behind shooter. Shooter must be patient and not move around. The caller who is some what hidden starts off with a good spike or raggy squeal followed by soft rapid chuckles. (not thumping grunts) Follow up with 2 or 3 different cow sounds, a couple social calls are fine, but you need to add some excited ones as well, those are the type that have a whiny mew to it aprox. 1 to 1-1/2 seconds in length. Only give those spike squeals twice about 3min. apart, then give the cow sounds off and on for the next couple minutes, be very aggressive with your calling, do your best to change the pitch to your cow calls like you' re really putting up a fuss. Make sure the caller also does a little stomping around and shake the brush up some as well, this will be more convincing to any elk listening. Rarley do cows respond vocally to this, they just show up, half the time they' re accompanied by a spike or two. It usually takes aprox. 15 min. of calling before something happens, sometimes up to 30min. so be patient, they' ll show up. Call off and on during this scenario, you' ll know what feels right and what doesn' t.

The 2nd one I use after elk are bedded down for the day.
I get no closer than 200yds from where I think elk are bedded. I do this because any closer and you may pull the herd bull away from his herd to check out the commotion, and in this case you want a cow not a bull. During the rut or pre rut a bull is reluctant to chase after other cows that are a distance away because he doesn' t like to be out of eye sight to long from his harem. So you should be able to pull a cow or two away. So don' t get to close.
Once again get comftorable and setup, in both caes make sure shooter has shooting lanes, in other words don,t be so hidden you can' t draw your bow easily for a good shot. This time no spike squeals. Start off with those excited cow calls, really mix it up, add a couple calf mews as well, remember change pitch around, this really sells it. Again caller should rustle pine needles, brush, or whatever is around, elk are noisy critters in a relaxed enviorment, remember you' re an elk.
Be aggressive and persistent enough that something has to come over and check out what the fuss is all about. Don' t get crazy though. Be patient once again, believe me elk will show up. You may even get the herd bull to bugle and chuckle at you, he' s telling you to come on over to him, but stay put and hold your position, cows will eventually show up. Hope this helps. elknut1