<p>This study compares population differences of stag rutting calls (bugles) in Manchurian wapiti <i>Cervus canadensis xanthopygus</i>. The bugles were recorded automatically in three native wild-living populations (Ussury, Khabar and Anyi) of Far East of Russia. In the bugles, we measured 13 acoustic variables, estimated percentages of different call contours (trapeze, descending, saddle) and noted a presence of nonlinear vocal phenomena (biphonation and deterministic chaos). Between-population acoustic differences were found in bugle duration, in the high fundamental frequency (g0), in peak frequency and in percentages of the bugles with trapeze and descending contours. Overall, the bugles from the populations Khabar and Anyi were less different in their acoustic structure from each other than from the bugles of the Ussury population. Between-population differences in the bugles were related to the geographical distance between three of Manchurian wapiti populations. We discuss that all subspecies of wapiti (Manchurian, Siberian <i>C. c. sibiricus</i> and North American <i>C. c. nelsoni</i>) displayed the similar pattern of male rutting bugles with a prominent long plateau of the high fundamental frequency. Another common trait of rutting bugles in male wapiti is the facultative appearance of the second low fundamental frequency (f0). In addition, we discuss that acoustic differences between the bugles of the Manchurian wapiti and the Siberian wapiti may serve as vocal indicators discriminating males of these subspecies during passive acoustic monitoring in zones of sympatry.</p>