Lucky_Strike

I once moved a cache (a magnetic key locker that was found tossed under a bush in the woods about 75 feet from the only metallic structure in sight) by replacing it to where the description indicated. But I also e-mailed the owners to tell them exactly where'd on the object I'd placed it, in case it wasn't on the exact spot. It really sucks to take it upon oneself to move a cache and not even bother to tell the owner where -- especially if the cache is a multi.

I "found" one of those once -- a virtual that was a monument on a Civil War battlefield that I frequent. I knew exactly which monument it was from the description and coords, but I did the owner a courtesy by taking my GPSr out there and checking the coords before logging the virtual. I "didn't even have to go there" either -- but I did. And that's the difference.

Oooooo, nice! The "It's not me, it's you" element was exactly what I was driving at. I find the occasional "Go out and buy a couple more GPSrs" log comment to be particularly annoying. In all fairness, I've had to archive two caches due to possibly faulty coords [1], so I recognize that it *can* happen. The spooky part is that both caches used the same container -- when I archived the first cache, I reused the container for the second one. So the container is obviously cursed. I'm going to burn it and have a priest perform rites of exorcism over the ashes -- just to be on the safe side. I'm about to archive a third cache of mine. It's the second time in the two months of the cache's existence that the container has been ruined by careless cachers (and the containers aren't at all flimsy), and I'll be damned if I'm going to replace the thing every thirty days just because people can't take an extra few seconds to make sure that the *next* hunter has something to find. Bitter? No, but I'm working on it... [1] Map services indicated that the coords on the second one were fine. It was just a really good hide -- I camo'd the thing really nicely and even *I* had trouble spotting it when I went back later to check on it.

#23 -- Makes a great paperweight for your maps when you're doing field work on a Civil War battlefield.

ADDENDUM Buck passers: "Despite the fact that fifteen other cache hunters posted that they found this cache with no difficulty, I couldn't locate it with a GPSr, a Topozone map, and a detailed encrypted clue. Perhaps the owner should invest in five or six more GPSrs to be able to verify his coordinates or else arrange to meet up with a dozen or two other people with GPSrs to verify the coordinates on the spot." Driveby cache hunters: "My twenty-seventh find of the day. Pulled up alongside the site. Jumped out of my car long enough to sign the log, forget to replace it in the ziploc bag, and beat the cache container with a baseball bat seven or eight times to make sure it'll never seal again and ensure that the next cache hunter will find a soggy, unusable log. Thanks for a nice hide."

And that's just due to the inaccuracy factor of the GPSr's right? I mean, you don't REALLY believe hiders purposely post bad coordinates,do you? I never said nor implied that cachers post bad coordinates. My point is that a GPSr will get you to within 25 or so feet of a location, but not pinpoint it. That's why the one logger (who wanted the "actual coordinates" posted) made me laugh -- the micro couldn't be any closer without sitting out on the sidewalk in plain view. I also had to laugh at the guys who tore up the fountain (laughing, that is, after I was finished crying). The guy carrying the GPSr said "The cache has to be here! My GPSr says we're within three feet of it!" I kind of squinted at him. "Get out!" I said. "Lemmie see that!" Sure enough, his unit's display read something like "2.7 feet". I hope he didn't pay extra for that. My comment about the local cachers was in reference to the "out of townies" who complain because we don't post "detailed treasure maps" that describe or lead you right to the exact spot. Whenever I see someone who has 1500 logged finds and complains that a cache description didn't disclose the actual hiding spot within 2 or 3 feet, I have to wonder...

Other than the previous poster's one comment about the value of trade items, I don't see the connection with the other thread. Just to share some cheap chuckles, my original post was prompted by a couple of things: 1) The coordinates of one of my caches takes you to a historical interpretive marker located in a small town. The micro container (an ice cube sized plastic container, which is described in the cache info) is quite literally within six to eight feet of the marker -- plus there's only maybe 2 or 3 places it could be located within that radius. In other words, I practically give hunters the location. A recent logger (visiting from the other coast and looking for the cache on his/her lunch break from a seminar) complained that the "coordinates of the cache itself should have been posted" (or words to that effect). (My guess here, from looking at the poster's stats [over 1500 caches found] is that he/she is primarily interested in running up a high score, was looking for a quick "cache and dash", and was disappointed. The "norm" for cachers locally is to provide coords that get you to within 25 feet or so of a container and then leave you with the challenge of actually finding it, rather than just leading you by the nose to a cache container) 2) Another of my caches is located in a rocky area with beaucoups hiding places. It also requires a bit of a climb up a rocky ledge in order to reach the container. Figuring that it might be a bit difficult without a hint, I encrypted a set of instructions to take hunters right to the cache in case they got stumped. I immediately got a logger complaining that the terrain and difficulty levels were too high compared to what he/she was used to (this was also a cacher from out of the area, as in #1 above). So I lowered the numbers a bit and, more significantly, removed the encrypted hint. The complaints about the ratings stopped immediately. Here's another type of cacher we love to hate: people who will tear up an area like ATF agents searching for a bomb. I was hunting for a cache a few months ago that was secreted somewhere in or around a fountain on the site of a local hospital/health center. (BTW, the cache had been placed with the center's permission). The fountain was a beautifully-made little homemade job, the kind of thing that people build in their gardens at home. It was really a nice piece of work, constructed of uncemented/unmortared stone slabs. As I was (carefully and unobtrusively) looking for the container, a group of guys (one carrying a GPS) came along and asked "Have you found it yet?" Obviously, they were hunting for the same cache. I watched, horrified, as they began to literally tear apart the fountain in their search for the cache -- they were really pulling the thing apart. Needless to say, facility personnel came running. I spent a few minutes talking with the facility's folks (i.e. distracting them) while the other guys managed to put the fountain back together. The cache has subsequently been permanently archived. Is anyone surprised?

Coordinate quibblers: "The coordinates you gave were 2.5 inches off -- you should buy a real GPSr". Terrain/difficulty nitpickers: "You call that a 2.5??? I found one back home that required me to deep sea dive to a depth of 900 feet and move a 3000 lb. rock with a crane on a floating platform, and that was only a 1.5 where I come from." Greedheads: "Took everything, left nothing, couldn't be stuffed to sign your log. But I want credit for the cache." Sometimes you just have to laugh...

I leave a pair of plastic dice; kinda sorta fits with my caching handle.