What would be a few good calls to learn to call elk on. I know I would probably need at least a cow call or two and a bugle, but what are the best ones and is there any that I am missing? Thanks

I cheat and use a hootchie mama for cow calls. I am not confident in my bull calls yet. I can often tell if it is someone trying to imitate bull calls. If I can, I'm sure a bull can as well. There is a another guy who posts quite often, I think he goes by elknut, he knows what he is talking about. It is not just calling, but saying the right thing. I am still practing before I try it for real on a hunt. Even without calling I have gotten elk four straight years (3 bulls and a cow). Two bulls and the cow were during rifle season and this year I got a 5x4 bull during my very first archery hunt for elk.

Let be the first to say that you don't have to have a perfect bugle for it to be affective. Some of the worst bugles I ever heard were from bulls. In fact, if I hear a "classic" bugle, I almost always think it might be a hunter. For people who have heard alot of bugeling, they know that elk sound different. If you hunt an area long enough, you will even reconize bugles from various bulls. If I were you, I would focus on what to say, and when to say it, as opposed to trying to sound perfect.

Abe & Sons makes a great grunt tube. I also use sceery Ace-1 Cow Call. Good luck.

I'll 2nd this, perfect bugles are "Hollywood" bugles in my opinion and anyone who spends time hunting Elk alot knows this. If you are a beginner or just "bugle" shy, stick to cow calling. You rarely can go wrong sounding like a cow or two. I use the Hoochie Mama, Carlton Calls "Lonesome Cow", Sceery's Ace cow talker and a reed in my mouth for cow/bull talk.

Keep in mind that the perfect bugle is not the real world bugle. Bulls can make some of most unusual noises and rarely do they should perfect. Worst case, learn to whistle a bit and try to chuckle near the end and you will be a small rag bull trying to act like the big boys. Big boys love beating up small rags w/ cows!

Good luck!

I use the Power Bugle, its a real easy call to use and it seems to work great for me. The call can bugle and chuckle excellent however i have not yet figured out a way to make that big squeal or roar from a real dominant bull. For a beginner this call is would definatly suit your purposes.

I like primos calls, they are easy to use and they have a video called mastering the art. Wal-mart used to sell it. You'll be fair by the time the video is over. You can master the hoochie mama in about 10 min. Good luck.

I would first find some good instructional material (hunting videos, Elknuts calling series is great or audio tapes with some calls) and pick up a couple of cow calls first off. I use several but have found the Hootchie(while simple and minimized tone) to be a good choice to carry. I also use the Primos Lead Cow/Calf call and like it a lot(it has also worked extremely well on bulls and cows in the field). I would also look at buying a palate plate mouth call, I use these as much as any other call and blowing cow or calf calls is actually not that difficult. I like the primos brand for these as well. I found sounding like more than one cow to be extremely effective and as such a mouth diaphram or reed call with a hootchie you can pull it off as a one man band. Cow talk is really an important part in calling elk IMHO.

Bugles well IMO (although I haven't mastered all the calls as of yet!!) diaphram mouth calls with a good grunt tube are the best but do take time. If you want a read call bugle the Power Lip as suggested or the Primos Terminator would be the ones I'd suggest (from my experience). I carry both, well sort of....lol. I like the Terminator tube better than the Power Lip, especially for diaphram call use..but I prefer the mouth piece on the Power Lip. So I did a switch on the components to erase the need for both around my neck.

Good Luck

I was in Idaho a couple of weeks ago and used two calls, I used an ELK cow call, you bite it and blow, easy to use, the outfitter also recommeneded hoochie mama's which is what he was using to call in my bull

After I got the bull, I got a Power Bugle cause I wanted to try bugling. Got in one afternoon and read the directions, next morning called in a small bull. Was very easy to use. I couldn't chuckle with it, but had some success getting the deep roar by changing the position of my bottom lip at the end of the bugle, but about 1/2 the time it didn't work right. The outfitter used one but preferred his diaphram, but his son is awesome with one.

--Bob

I use a Sceery Ace-1 special cow call. Like the hoochie mama, but never have used it. I used a spike whistle just to locate bulls. Despite what the hunting programs try and peddle, there are enough gadget freaks out in the woods with every other call made. I bugle or grunt very seldom, but have relied on either a diaphram reed type call or a bite call. Diaphram reed calls work great, but if you get over excited, you can choke on these. Find out what works best for you and what you feel comfrotable with. Good luck.