SoonerCardsFan

Some of my favorite finds have been on or very near THE University Of Oklahoma campus. But as can be seen by my user name I might be a bit prejudice.

A few months ago I started carrying log sheets and replacing them when full or unusable. Then I email the CO. About 90% of the time I'll get a "thank you but toss it" email back. The other 10% I don't hear back at all. Based on this I think I'm doing the right thing.

I thought half of the fun was going in circles and backtracking.

I wouldn't have a clue as to an average time. I've spotted many before getting out of the car. Then there a a couple that I've looked for multiple times before finding. Up to probably an hour total time for one of those. And everything in between.

I also see the reasoning behind not allowing favorite points until found. But, there is at least one instance where I would like to be able to do so. There is one cache I've been to three times. Both by myself and with my caching partner. We've spent a lot of time looking for this puppy. It's there as it has been found and the CO checks it occaisionally and logs that it is there. I've not spent this much effort on any cache and not found it. The hide itself deserves a favorite point.

One of my best friends in high school is now my brother-in-law. He got me into caching and we go together most weekends. It makes it more of a challenge sometimes to try and make the find first. Some days seem to be his day, others seem to be mine.

There are a couple commom quotes I use. Mostly when out in the wilderness and I trip over a limb, step in a hole, etc. I can't put them on here. Use your imagination.

I started carrying cache supplies a few months ago. Right after the Groundspeake Weekly Newsletter suggested it was a good idea to help each other out. If a log is full or soaked I add a log if there's room. If not I replace the log and email the CO and let them know I have the log if they want it. I've probably replaced 10 to 12 and I've had a total of one CO respond. That CO didn't want the log. I also replace baggies and even containers. Containers only if it was found and is damaged beyond being able to keep a log safe. I see no reason not to save a CO a whatever mile trip to some tree with a broken pill bottle in it if I have one with me.

There are a few nearby that I haven't and won't find because they're in a yard. I'm not going in a yard. Just uncomfortable. One exception I made was a cache in a fake birdhouse on a tree near the street. I knew exactly where it was and the house had a "Geocacher Parking Only" sign so I felt OK grabbing that one.

I like this too. One of my early urban finds I was going for a grab that I was sure of the placement but there were muggles passing by randomly. As I pictured my approaching and then backing off numerous times as muggles approached it hit me how silly, or maybe suspicious I looked. Now if "stealth" is required I either skip it or find a time when "stealth" won't be required.

I won't cross a No Tresspassing sign. There a a couple of caches close by home that are in parks or greenbelts owned/maintained by the Home Owners Association of the addition the park is in. They are clearly marked No Tresspassing. Not going in there.

Since installing 2.7 my 20 I have to go to the satellite icon and have it find satellites about half the times I turn it on. Didn't have to before. Anyone else have this issue?

That wash posted by JesandTodd looks a lot like one here that has a cache. Took two of us two trips totaling about 2 hours to find it. I love hides like that. The more challenging the hide the more rewarding it is when you do find it. Another of my favorite finds was a fake rock in a small park. Just laying on the ground under a bush. Pretty much the only rock around. Took me over an hour to decide to pick up the rock. My poor brain kept overlooking it.

A couple of weeks ago my bro-in-law and I were out in a huge park. There's a cache in the rocks below a walking trail bridge. We both saw three or four small, 2 to 3 feet long,snakes near GZ. Didn't bother me. I went on the search while he stayed a few feet away. What he didn't see was momma. She was 5 to 6 feet long and probably 1.5 inches in diameter. He'd have never left the bridge in that case. Note: I have to give bro-in-law credit. He has gotten much better about ticks and snakes this past year. So has his sister, my wife. I guess I'm a good influence.

This is something I would not suggest unless you're sure of what you're doing but it frees up quite a bit of space. I had an issue once with my NUVI not being able to download an update because its memory was too full. I called Garmin and they had me go into the keyboard, voice and help folders and delete all the language files except english since I don't speak or read anything else. I did this to me eTrex 20 soon after I bought it. Figured if it worked OK on the NUVI it would on the eTrex. It did. Also, I made a backup of the units before I deleted anything in case I deleted something I shouldn't have. Again, I would not suggest doing this unless you're sure of what you're doing.

My bro-in-law and I both used NUVI 1490s for some time. I bought an eTrex 20 a few weeks ago. The eTrex makes logging finds easier as I can upload them as field notes. And since it uses batteries I'm not done caching if my batteries run out, like with the NUVI. As far as accuracy. Since we have a NUVI and an eTrex side by side most every weekend we've compared a lot. Sometimes his takes us right to a cache that mine can't seem to zero in on. Sometimes it's the other way around. Most time both work equally. Can't say either is more accurate than the other in any condition. So in answer to the OPs question I would use the NUVI until I could comfortably afford a eTrex 20.

Keep an eye on that. That's the first sign of Lyme disease. If it looks like a bulls-eye and is about as big as a baseball, that's it. My thought too. That's why I went to a Dr. but he says it doesn't look like it to him. I hope he knows what he's doing.

I've spent a lot of time camping, hiking etc. in my 52 years. Long before caching. This has been the worst year so far for ticks that I've seen. A week ago I had one attach itself before I found it. I removed it properly but an area around it about the diameter of a baseball turned a bright red rash. Freaked me out as I've pulled many, many ticks off myself over the years and never had this happen. Went to a urgent care clinic and the Dr. said it was nothing to worry about. Gave me a weeks worth of antibiotics in case. It's cleared up now so all is good. I have bought the strongest DEET spray and will use it from now on.

3. Geocaches are never buried. If a shovel, trowel or other pointy object is used to dig or break ground, whether in order to hide or to find the cache, then it is not permitted. They're not buried and no "shovel, trowel or other pointy object" was used to place these. Simply pushed into soft ground. Also, if removed there would be no evidence they were ever there. I don't see where any rules were broken in placement. Also, I deleted the log.

I'm a believer in "It's not a find if it's not signed". But last weekend I made an exception. There's a run of 60 identical caches SW of Oklahoma City on stretches of country road. They're short pieces of camo painted PVC pipe, one end stuck in the ground and a film cannister resting in the up end. Most were fine. 3 we found the the cannister near the pipe and put it back in the pipe. One we found an empty pipe and looked all around but never found the canister. Since we found the pipe we logged this as a find. Didn't like doing that but we did find the pipe. CO saw our logging of his run and let us know that he knows the one has been missing for a couple of weeks and he needs to get out to replace it.

Nope. Those aren't the GPX files. In the GPX folder there should be a file for every cache you download. They will be the GC code of the cache followed by .GPX

I wish an Etrex 20 would remove caches from the downloaded list when logged as DNF or Unattempted. It only drops them off the list if logged as Found. If I don't attempt for some reason or DNF I'm not likely to try again on that trip and would like the active list to only be populated by caches I'm going to look for. Other than that I love my new 20.

I'm licenced to carry and often do whether caching or not. I've also been through a great deal of force-on-force training. I've ran into a couple of situations caching inside the city where people appeared seemingly out of nowhere and didn't look like they had any good intentions. I've always gotten out without using anything but my head and I pray it will always be that way. But I have my Glock just in case.