I'm going to wind up seconding some opinions you've already got on here. I switched calls this year in midseason after losing a call-off with a cow herd for the affections of a satellite bull I had coming in to my bugling. The bull was about 150 yards from me when a cow herd below me started cow calling. I opened up with my Sceery-piece-of-crap bird call/"cow" call, and the bull went for the real cows and left me alone and blue. I'd been using that Sceery for 3 years, mainly to back up my voice call, which is a real killer IF my throat is right on any given day. The Sceery call is just way too high-pitched, and trying to lower the pitch puts you in danger of making the dreaded duck call!

I ran to the store when I came out to pick up another week's worth of backpacking food, and bought the Hoochie Mama call, figuring it'd be the easiest to master. Well, I was stunned when I started squeezing that thing. I mean, that call flat out duplicates the main calling tone of a cow elk. Combined with my throat calls, I'm now a mean mo-chine. I think, the elk might still think differently on that.

For a bugle, I use the Power Bugle but it's too damned loud. You can blast an elk into immediate hesitance with the thing if you're not careful. I EXHALE completely before I bugle, and try to curl the end around and blow it back into my clothing to muffle the sound a little. The tonal quality of the PB is really good. Like others have said, "bugling ability" is almost a misnomer, if you sound remotely like a bull elk you're going to be fine. I really believe the quickest way to put an elk on guard is to make one of those elk contest bugles with all the growls and the perfectly modulated 3 and 4 note symphonies. Make the bugle about 1-2 seconds long, with 2 notes max.

(I killed my cow this year in front of a young six-pointer who flat out sounded like a coyote. I'm telling you that a carefully selected panel of hunting experts would have voted unanimously "coyote" if you could replay the sound this bull was making.)