wapahani

One of my caches seems to have a nice ant issue. The small ones that like to bite. I just posted a note and let it go. Its nature. I had someone complain that one of my caches was in a "high skeeter location".... Ya, I know... I replied its "Mo-Skee-Toe" and its NATURE!

There are always special circumstances. In this case I would certainly take care of it if needed. Takes nothing to add a few more pages for the log.

Do a google search for "GIS" and the name of your county/province and so forth. Most locales are now publishing their local GIS online and you can find out who owns what land and the locations of property lines. I use this everytime I have a question on ownership. It will list the owner and there address, and you can contact them if needed. My local GIS is updated every 2 months, so its very up to date, while the neighboring county only updates theirs at each tax paying period (property taxes). My neighbor owns a small 10' x 15' x 5' triangle of land down by the river that isn't attached to any of his other property! Size doens't matter at all. Our county owns a piece of land that is 1'x1' square the hold the survey marker for the original land survey here. Its in the middle of my other neighbors field.

A unique cache is a cache that is like no other. In my area these are far and few between. Most of the caches around here are simple matchsafes and bison tubes. I have 2 unique hides, and the rest are LockNLocks in good locations. The more I think, I don't call any of them park n grabs, but 1 might be such if you luck into it....

We also have kids to wrangle, the youngest being a 2 year old. I keep a Composite notebook with the following. Cache name, GC#, CO's Name, COORDS, Container type (if listed or hinted at) and then the clues if listed. Then finally a general quick look at google map to help me with further clues. Takes 5 lines on the notebook, can fit 4 caches per page. Takes a few minutes and I do this ahead of time. Have several hundred listed. I figured if the owner took the time to help me a little, I can help use out as well by using that info! Little effort will go long in terms of helping you!

I look at it like this. As a cache owner, I put time into: 1- Making the cache container 2- Looking for and placing said cache 3- Writing up cache page and info If your TOO LAZY to take the time to write down or copy/print/download the info, then you deserve the pain! That is that simple. If I take the time to give you hints and other clues and you don't write them down, its your fault. I love it when cachers complain. Generally you find they didn't take the time or effort to do their homework. Its isn't my fault, its yours as the cacher!

Sometimes I wonder if some cachers look at placing a cache the same as finding. In that I mean, seeing how many caches you can place, the same as being a number hound on finds. In that respect, raising the bar isn't hard at all, and it does matter. How hard is it to actually walk around the location you intend to place the cache to find a good hiding spot? How hard is it to make a good container to hide your log in? Sure, I believe we are all due a nano or a bison tube. But take time, be creative.

I chuckled, but I saw this 1 time. When I saw it I thought perhaps they owned it. Made a note, got home found they didn't! LOL

When did I say I would make them "relog" the caches? I said I might email them and tell them to sign the logs, not meaning what they have already found, but doing so in the future. Don't make an assumption, because you completely missed that one. I'm not going to delete their finds because in each of my caches they logged, I have found stickers. What causes the issue is one cache that I watch was missing the sticker, and probably fell out of the matchsafe. Another one I visited was missing a sticker, but I located it 10 feet away on the little path. Without signing the log, some CO's might dump their finds! That is all I was getting at.

I'm not saying they "didn't find it". Never said that. I just found this as odd. Most people sign the log. I also will mention that another cache I watch over, I wasn't able to find said sticker. Its a 1 of 1 cache that everyone finds (its so easy) no sticker. So I checked another, and the sticker was on the ground. I'm thinking of emailing them and saying they need to sign the log. I'm just not sure the point of the sticker since its not always staying in the cache!

to learn...... Never expect a cache to be published quickly from Friday to Tuesday as a general rule of thumb. Most people place caches during this time and the que probably gets nice and long. Remember too that the reviewer is looking at a bunch of info for each cache, so the more info you post for them the better it will be and generally faster. I've had them published as fast as 30 minutes and as long as 5 days. Pay attention to the reviewer notes, unless you know your reviewer prefers email. Remember too that they have hundreds of cache owners in their area and its a bunch to remember! Your reviewer might not be in your location also!

Its a game of "the hunt" its a game of "adventure" its a game of "the hide" its a game of "fun"

This brings more reasoning to adding the text "No spoilers in any log please, if so they can and will be deleted!" Sorta like a nice NO TRESPASSING SIGN...LOL

My general take is, if you want to make it a MOC, then do it. I don't see it making them any safer overall. I tend to make my tougher caches MOC, and then on some I make them normal caches after a short time. I wouldn't worry about it. If you place it, they will come to visit it.

Over the weekend we had some out of state cachers inbound. They found a few of my caches (one of which is a 5 star) and I questioned this (since they only have a handful of finds). Since they found my other cache close to my home I checked it out. Their logs state "left our seal". When I opened the log book, there was no signature. But in the plastic bag was a small sticker. When I checked the other cache that was the 5 star, I found the same, no log signature, but a sticker instead, that was in the bag. Another cache had the same, but no sticker in the log, instead it was just in the bottom of the locknlock. I've see the stamps that people use, but never a sticker with no log. Or as they call it a "SeaL" Anyone seen this before?

I've got one right now that is a 5 star hide, with a nice terrain rating. Its got a $10 bill for the FTF. The longer it goes not being found, the higher the bill might go. Its an evil cache in the manner its hidden. No, not a needle in a hay stack!

I guess I don't understand. In general unless you show up at a earth cache without the info (meaning, not knowing it was an earth cache when you arrived) I don't know how you miss it. Unless in general they failed the concept of it.

About 100 feet. I generally say OH WELL on this stuff. One cache was off a good 80 to 100 feet, had I not thought about the clue, then perhaps we would have DNF'ed it. But said CO is bad about getting good COORDS and generally admits to take your time on their caches.

Apparently this Cowboy doesn't like being 3rd?

We have a mixed feeling about this subject. If a cache owner has been missing for more then a year, then there isn't much need under the new policy to repair it. Put in a SBA and move on. However if its known that the CO is just ill or taking a bit off, then fix it if you can. We don't mind fixing logs and or pill bottles and whatever. I hate hitting the SBA and have only done this a couple times, and in both cases, the CO has been gone for over a year and many DNF's had been logged. Generally I find other cachers that I know who have found it, talk with them and even ask if they will revisit to confirm. Situation #2 had a cache that had been replaced not once, but twice in total to this point. CO had been gone almost 2 years and only hid one cache and found something like 20. I ended up contacting the second replacer and we talked it over and came to the conclusion it was MIA. I never got to log the find. Oh well... It is what it is. Use your head in each case.

As someone who ran them for a living I will say, I was never "easy" feeling when I saw someone along the tracks just standing there, unless they are a railfan taking pictures of the train. People do dumb things, and I've seen people do life ending things out there. Most generally the railroads own 50 to 100 feet from the center of the closest track. Distances will vary, but it isn't a good idea to even go close to a railroad bridge. There are plenty of locations to place a cache away from the tracks. If you do place it within eye shot of the tracks/bridge make sure it has GEOCACHE stickers on it.

I've got 2 type of hides that I do. One is just a regular LockNLock type hide that most generally EVERYONE can find withing 10 minutes of starting. The other are called "EVIL" hides. I have 4 of them, and they are different levels of EVIL in how they are hid. 3 of the 4 have been found, while one hasn't been. None of them are "needles in a haystack" but they are almost TOO OBVIOUS and that seems to make them more difficult to find. I've learned that most ways of hiding in Caching are already used. I've often found that after a period of time, most cachers have a preconceived notion on what a cache will be when they arrive. Sometimes hiding it in the most obvious spot can be the easiest way to confuse them! One cacher after they found one of my evil hides called me "The king of obvious". I had to chuckle, but it is true.

If a cache requires me to wade through Poison ivy, I won't go after it...nor will I place one there. Just be careful. Even if you wear pants, you can get it on other parts when you take off said pants. The oils are bad.

Go to the hardware store, buy a spade bit that is a 1-1/8", drill out the end of a large diameter branch and slide it into the hole. Then place branch into tree at ground level. Or, get camo tape, wrap well, find a dead spot in tree and place, then top with old bark and junk. (this one has been done 100 times over!) Just think for a while.

I'm only going to say this once... HORRIBLE IDEA! Your messing in terms of FEDERAL LAW issues here. Especially if the route is what they call "Mainline" Yes, I worked for the railroad. Its just not a great idea to do it... Plenty of other spots! Plus I believe any good reviewer will deny you INSTANTLY as they should for that type cache!