orangecamper

I had the same thing happen to me. I logged a DNF on the first cache I attempted and received email from the CO that not only asked if I wanted a hint, but included his cell phone number and welcomed me to call if I had difficulty with any of his caches (I never did take him up on the offer). Now, whenever I see a log on one of my caches which mentions that it was their first cache I send out a Welcome to the game message. Yeah, I am pretty new, and I had a cache owner send me hints for 2 in a series I DNF'd. They had both been muggled before, and apparently are there, so they sent a bit of a hint. I appreciate it, and sent back letting them know! Some owners will do this, some won't. You may want to try something else, and come back to that one after you have more experience at finding! I have stated that on most of my DNF's, that I will be back after I am more experienced.

LMAO! Also, I have learned that just because there "appears" to be a trail leading straight to it, that doesn't mean it's the RIGHT trail! 2 times on the same cache, saw deer trails off the main trail, and followed them... Took about 2x as long to find it as it should have!

What about pill bottles? I got some nice-sized ones from my mom, dog medicine ones. One good just for log and pencil, but the other one could conceivably hold coins... I am relatively new to caching, and haven't placed any yet, but working on it!

I'm wondering if part of their issue is just not changing the date to the date they found it. I don't usually log the same day I go caching, I wait a day or so. I try to mark what the datewas in my little book, but sometimes forget.

At least this addiction will get us out and get us some exercise! (And bug bites, and scratches, and sprained thingsm and muddy, and wet... LOL!)

I'm pretty new to this, too, and the advice here is pretty darned good! I have only DNF'd on urban micros and over 3 difficulty so far, because I am sticking with easier and larger caches. The best advice I have gotten is to get within 50' and PUT THE GPS AWAY. Look with your eyes, not the GPS. Most that I have found have been within 5-20' of what the GPS says, but some have been farther. You DO need to take time to learn to look, I am better at spotting than my BF, and he gets frustrated with that. But, I have spent more time in the woods (hiking and camping) than he has. Take your time, start with the easiest ones, look around on the forums. GOOD LUCK!!!

HAHA, my first found cache with no help or hints, I wandered around for 30 minutes under and among pine trees with piles of brush all over! I was giving up, turned around to go back to the trail, and there it was.

I'm new, too, and I log my DNF's. When I do, I make sure to say I am new, and could have missed it due to lack of experience. As a person with thousands of finds told me this weekend, ANYONE can DNF. It helps the owner to know if all's well, if it may be missing, if it was moved from the posted coordinates. All kinds of things. And I can't WAIT to go back and try again when I am a bit better at it!

I'm new to caching, and haven't attended any CITO events yet. For me, this is just an extension of what I did BEFORE I started caching. I love hiking, and I hate seeing plastic bottles, cigarette butts (and me a smoker!), cans of any kind, and, once at Starved Rock, even a dirty diaper, on or off the trails. It's nice that it has a name, and that they promote it as something positive, but as a previous poster said, Some people will, and some won't. Personal choice, and I won't yell at someone who doesn't unless they are with me and leaving trash. Can't win 'em all, just do what works for YOU.