Slatecall, You have herd of just about every external call made and I agree they all work. But, the mouth call is the one that is most versatile. For some people they are easy to use, others have a very hard time with them. I used to work as a Pro Staff member of Hunter's Specialties. I have had a chance to use about every call on the market. The reed I recomend to begining callers is put out by John Sarkisian "The High Plains Call". They come in doubles and triples, adult and youth sizes. They are made out of dental rubber not latex. The call makes great cow calls and bugles. I use them myself for cow calls. I use the H.S. 3.5 for bugles, the bad part is H.S. doesn't make them any more. I got a boat load of them when H.S. took over Carlton. If I had to pick a bugle reed I would go with Primos or Quakerboy. Fit is the most important thing, if you can't hold it in your mouth you can't call. If the reed makes you gag, trim the tape down or go to a youth size. Put the call in your mouth so you can use the tip of your tongue on the latex edge and say SHOW. You will just love what it does to your tongue. Push the latex to the roof of your mouth and the pitch will go up. Learn to make it go up and down in pitch and you are on your way. One last thing go out and listen to elk and learn to do every thing they do. You may not need it, but you will be able to do it when it matters.
Gselkhunter