NorthOf55

Hi there, another Canuckastanian here. Grew up in Richmond, BC and have lived in Northern Alberta for almost 10 years. I'm very new to this but have been using my little Garmin for about 6 years so I don't get lost in the bush. We've got lots of bush! It really seems like a lot of fun and I might actually learn something about GPS. Hoping to find my 1st cache soon. Just too much on my plate right now to do other than peek around when I get the chance. Good hunting all!

Amazing how many things there are to this "little" hobby. A young man could spend his life learning all the ins and outs. I'm not so young. Where's the Cole's Notes cached at?! lol It is nice to see that our parks folks have set some hard and fast guidelines about this. Like fishing regulations. Read, learn. follow. Then you don't get in any serious trouble. Wildlife on the other hand is the ultimate authority and do not respond well to threats of law suits

Great thread! lol As much as I don't have use for a lot of cops, they are people and people can be strange no matter their occupation. I'd just be honest, not give up the cache location unless he/her has a warrant then go about your business unless you can see them watching. It could be bad if you took LEO to the cache and some dumb rookie like me left something illegal in there. I would never do that, but someone dumber than me might. Good idea tho to have something that explains what you're doing and like some posters said, use discretion in public areas where there may be illegal stuff going on. I wouldn't worry about LEOs so much but the perpetrators of the illegal stuff might mess you up. Like anything else, keep your wits about you. Half the people in the cemetery had the right of way! The woods aren't safe anymore either. Armed guards keeping care of pot grows. I'd rather deal with a cop or even a Fed. At least if you do exactly as they say they're not likely to shoot your sorry butt. The helicopter ride is fun too! Up here in the northern, undeclared, US states the RCMP are pretty decent most of the time and only take out their guns during oil changes. lol As long as one is legal there shouldn't be much of a problem no matter where you are. Main thing with cops or anyone that thinks they have some sort of authority is start off politely. I don't mean that one should kiss butt, but if you give them attitude from the start, things go downhill from there. A few decades as a professional driver has taught me how to respond to police/security guards and gangsters. Unless you're big enough and tough enough and looking for grief, then discretion is the better part of valor. A Smith & Wesson beats a full house/smart mouth every time. This is just my humble take on a very complicated issue and should in no way be taken as some sort of gospel or competent legal advice. You pays your dollars and you takes your chances! Good luck and God bless.

Thanks for the tip briansnat. I kind have that part figured out but I must have been in the wrong place and still need to figure it all out. My wife even checked the #s and she was saying it might be a few yards off. There was nothing but pool-table-flat ground around there so like I said, I must of messed up. Raining like crazy around here today so I didn't bother looking again. All the roads around here off the pavement are clay&gravel and very messy when it rains or during spring break-up. With helpful tips from friendly GeoCachers like yourself I'll be up to speed soon enough. Thanks for your input! C'ya

Thanks dwlover! Nice to know I'm not the only one that isn't perfect yet. I'm an old war-horse from Usenet and find it hard sometimes to be polite when I get attitude from "know-it-all" types. As this is a family oriented forum and I don't want to get skidded before I've even got to figure things out I'll just bite my tongue, grow some skin and ignore the negative attitude types. It must be nice to be so perfect. Like the football stars in junior high that used to stuff my skinny butt into a locker and walk away laughing. Kharma will always pay forward! LOL C'ya L8r.

So, did you have something constructive to say are you just in a <potty language removed> mood? I didn't know I shouldn't dig yesterday but I know that now. I prefer to measure my distances in parsecs but kilometers will work too. Maybe I shouldn't bother posting anything until I figure it all out myself if all I get is this kind of response. At least some folks here will cut a rookie a little slack and help a guy get on track. I'll be at the Bee in about a half hour and I'll send you a pic. Meanwhile you can chill. Or not. Your choice. L8r.

Thanks WeightMan. I checked and it's in WGS84 mode so I'm probably doing something else wrong. We're running into town so I'll hunt down the nano near the Worlds Biggest Bee and see how that goes. I only have dial-up internet access so Google Earth is deadly slow but I'll have a look there and maybe get straightened out. I have the manual for my eTrex all printed out and bound so I most likely need to dig through it a bit deeper. A lot on my plate at the moment but I'll keep plugging away at it. Thanks again and good hunting!

Thanks all for the info. I know now that I need to find out more about the rules and how to go about this. I did speak to and get permission from the land owner before I went poking around. I also filled the little hole I dug after I was done. I thought it was unlikely that I was going to find anything but I had to look anyhow. No trees or other places to stash stuff. Just a big flat field. Should locations like that be taken off the list so other rookies like me aren't wasting their time looking for it? Thanks again for helpful tips and to those that want to bash the new guy . . . Go Cache yourself! LOL

Thanks to both of you. I'm very new to this but eager to be part of.. Thr location was N 55 44 281 W 117 06 348 I walked back and forth to make sure that I was at the precise location. I kinda knew that you weren't supposed to dig for it but what the hey! It was still a lot of fun too go find that spot. I'll set up my own GeoCache soon. Thanks folks for all your help! NorthOf . . .

I went this evening with my wife to hunt down the "Off The Canal" cache near Donnelly, AB and even with Frank's permission I couldn't find anything after digging down 2 feet. I know it shouldn't be hidden that much but I had to be sure. Right in a farmer's field,(Frank's), Went to the one for the "World's Biggest Bee" as well and it seems to me that the spot is in the vacant lot right between the newspaper office and the Bargain Store. As a thundershower hi as I was finding it and I needed to get to Peace River in 45 min I took off. By now you may have deduced that I live around here. Smarter than the average bear you all are. I live on a small acreage about ten miles out of Falher. I'm really enjoying this so far and am looking forward to mastering my little Garmin eTreX that has hauled my butt out of the woods for the last 10 years. Then I'll have to get something with some real muscle! LOL Love fishing but disappointed up here after decades of salmon/steelhead. Know any good spots? Need a knowledgeable fishing buddy? Now I have to look into setting up my own GeoCache. Mmmmmm . . . C'ya all L8r