Henri Lansbury had given Forest the lead in front of a bumper 28,070 crowd at the City Ground and both sides had plenty of chances to add to that strike as the game progressed.
The Reds looked to have done enough, however, until Pugh's 90th minute goal for the visitors.
Billy Davies' men remain 4th in the Championship while Eddie Howe's side are still just outside the play-off places and the Bournemouth boss felt their point was deserved, telling BBC Radio Solent after the game: "We did a lot of things right and if we had been beaten it would have been hugely disappointing, so it was a big goal for us."