In the Winter issue, Brian Lovett uses his new column, "The Complete Caller," to tell about the merits of the often-overlooked tube call. We needed photos to go with Brian's article, so he brought in his 10-year-old Perfection brand tube. Here it is on the left. It looks like a couple scraps of PVC pipe jammed together, and the diaphragm tucked into the small end is the only clue that it's a turkey call. It won't win any call-making contests, but so what? When something works you go with it, and Brian says that's why he still carries it.

That got me thinking about one of my go-to calls. The call on the right is a crow call from Ben Lee Calls of Coffeeville, Alabama. The late Ben Rodgers Lee gave it to me during a tour of his little manufacturing facility in 1989. No, that's not a wooden barrel; it's wood-grain plastic. And the sticker, what's left of it, further adds to the K-Mart style. But wow! It blows deep and loud like few other crow imitators I've heard.

I own several good locator calls, but every winter when I'm sorting through my mountain of "stuff" in preparation for spring, Ben's call always ends up in the must-have pile. And as long as it keeps on making ear-splitting, irritating sounds, it will have a place.