Elk talk constantly with soft mews, chirps, and estrus whines. Years ago, I used elk bugles regularly, but I’ve mostly moved away from them. Bugling gives away your exact position to every hunter on the mountain, and I’ve personally had other bowhunters stalk me thinking I was a bull.
These days, I call in far more bulls using cow sounds than I ever did bugling. In fact, Eastmans’ Hunting Journal featured the Dominator Call® after publisher Mike Eastman used it extensively in the field to call in several bulls for his Hunting Trophy Elk Video. When a cow comes into heat, that nasal estrus sound pulls bulls in without alerting every other hunter in the area, making it one of the most reliable “call sounds” I make for a clean, close shot, or encounter.