GeoStars

quote:...you are more likely to get injured on the job than being involved in a hunting accident. Well, lets see, how many people work? How many people are in a situation to be injured in a hunting accident? Yep, I bet this statement is most likely correct. Can't speak for other parts of the country but around here, it's not terribly safe to be poking around in the woods during hunting season. I will agree that 90% or better hunters are sensible, know-what-you're-shooting-at type people. It's the other 10% that scares me. It's bad enough that our kids are not allowed free run of our own property during firearms season. You might think us paranoid but we've had enough problems in the past that this is necessary. In case you think we're just anti-hunter, I will point out that both my husband and I hunt. We have a couple of really good neighbors that we get together with prior to firearm season to discuss tree stand locations to avoid crowding each other or firing towards others. We also have one neighbor that feels that all land within a couple of miles of his place is open for hunting for him and all his buddies. These are the ones that require a close rein on the kids. This is private property mind you. Geocaching in a public hunting area?! No thank you. While the vast majority of hunters are probably safe to be around, you just never know. We'll stick to non-hunting areas for the next couple of months. GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

Everyone plays this game a little different. Some like to make their caches easy finds. Some want to make things more difficult by making it a tricky find but name the park, town, nature area, etc... Some tell you the best place to park (which doesn't always help, especially when islands are involved!). Some like to just put out a waypoint and leave it up to you to research, or just plain search, the rest. We've hunted several different variations of caches and have enjoyed all. We've placed several caches and they vary greatly in difficulty. We have one that is a really easy find as long as you take an extra few minutes to look for the easiest way to it. It's there, and not too hard to find. But if you try the *follow the arrow* approach, you're in for a bit of difficulty. This was by design. Naming the town or area for each cache would simplify the hunt, certainly. But it would also take away some of the challenge and for us, the fun. We've had caches where we've spent as much time looking for a place to park as we've spent on the hunt itself. Once again, all part of the game... GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

I actually flunked computer programming in high school, many moons ago. Give me an acute MI, a multi-system trauma, or your more common minor PI and I'm on it. Give me a general error message and I'm scratching my head. I'm one of those that still can't seem to upload pictures to this site. I learned of geocaching through highpointing and am addicted just the same. GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

although I doubt that the majority of false trips will be without knowledge of the owner. I see a slightly different scenario, people calling out S&R because they're cold, they twisted an ankle, are just *too tired* to hike back, or a million other non-emergent situations that use up valuable resources best left for true emergencies. I'm not completely against safety nets and can see where this technology could occasionally save lives. I can also see it being abused, especially by those that really shouldn't be doing backcountry trekking but feel they can because help is just a button-push away. GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

Formal: Gustaf #5 Informal: Grover #4 GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

Found one in the Everglades while vacationing in FLorida a couple of weeks ago. All together, we drove just over 3300 miles and found caches in 3 different states (FLorida, Georgia, and North Carolina). Also added 3 state highpoints to our record. Cool trip and our first geocaching while on vacation adventure. GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

One for the design ideas and one for the legal arguments. Anyway, just thought I'd add my 2 cents on the designs submitted so far. I really like the ones Gustaf has been working on, especially #5. Is this eventually going to be put to a vote? GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

But the post cards mentioned above reminded me of something. I recently released a travel bug in a cache on vacation with the goal of it coming home. I seriously considered having a bunch of stamped, self-addressed post cards with it to be mailed to me by the finders along the way. I didn't because I wasn't sure how I felt about giving out my home address. Having self-addressed post cards in caches might be interesting for those a bit less paranoid than I. GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

But the post cards mentioned above reminded me of something. I recently released a travel bug in a cache on vacation with the goal of it coming home. I seriously considered having a bunch of stamped, self-addressed post cards with it to be mailed to me by the finders along the way. I didn't because I wasn't sure how I felt about giving out my home address. Having self-addressed post cards in caches might be interesting for those a bit less paranoid than I. GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

One had apparently started out without one and the bug's page was printed out and put with the bug in a baggie by one of it's finders. Kinda cool since it had a pretty specific goal. We just returned from vacation over a 1,000 miles from home. I printed out cache pages and researched any bugs associated with caches we might search prior to leaving. Of course bugs turned up that weren't listed when I printed the pages. None had goals attached and we left all (4 or 5, I don't exactly remember). I did look up the bugs later and found out that some had very specific goals. One wanted to stay on states bordering the Gulf of Mexico. Good thing we left that one behind! Another wanted to get home to NW Indiana. We live in NE Indiana. Sure could have helped that one along... I love finding, as well as owning, travel bugs. I like the idea of goals and make a point to only pick up ones I can help or those without specific goals. I wish more people would put goals with the bugs. It'd make things easier for the finders and probably cut down (not eliminate) bugs moving away from their goals. GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

Actually, it was yesterday according to my watch and over 500 miles earlier. It's going to be our first no-find from just plain wimping out. Great cache, great location, we were just not prepared and too far from home to get more equipment. I haven't even logged it online yet although I did write up my no-find log on the ride home. I'll log it, as well as several others (mostly finds!), later today. Even with the no-find, it still caused some minor injuries to the two team members that were crazy enough to attempt it. Fortunately just scrapes, bruises and sore muscles. Along with first aid kits, common sense is essential on all cache hunts. Better a bruised ego than a broken neck! BTW, the cache in question was Lost Caves of the Middle Sun. We were so, so close... GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

Originally posted by opey one: quote:Then, make sure I haven't left any extra spoilers such as an extreme worn path and such. Then leave the area the whole time wondering--- darn, did I leave an obvious trail??? Oh well, can't win 'em all. We often geocache in a group (our team has 5 members and we often pair up with other teams) and we really emphasize not tromping around or leaving obvious marks of our presence. We found a cache a couple months back and left a highly coveted travel bug. Another geocacher went in shortly after us and couldn't find the cache. He said he thought that since we'd just been there he'd be able to follow our trail but saw no sign of a trail. We took that as a compliment! We always try to hide things exactly as we found unless we're pretty sure that the owner's intentions were different. If we find a level 3 difficulty sitting in the open, we cover it up. GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

Originally posted by opey one: quote:Then, make sure I haven't left any extra spoilers such as an extreme worn path and such. Then leave the area the whole time wondering--- darn, did I leave an obvious trail??? Oh well, can't win 'em all. We often geocache in a group (our team has 5 members and we often pair up with other teams) and we really emphasize not tromping around or leaving obvious marks of our presence. We found a cache a couple months back and left a highly coveted travel bug. Another geocacher went in shortly after us and couldn't find the cache. He said he thought that since we'd just been there he'd be able to follow our trail but saw no sign of a trail. We took that as a compliment! We always try to hide things exactly as we found unless we're pretty sure that the owner's intentions were different. If we find a level 3 difficulty sitting in the open, we cover it up. GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

Orginally posted by Metaphor: quote:I really don't like McToys because they are so, so, ubiquitous. They're everywhere. Caching takes me away from the omnipresent mercantile America where we are so cross-marketed that little kids see the junk food/movie/toy world as one big happy meal that, let's see, clogs heart valves/kills reading for pleasure/dulls imagination. There are a lot of items that kids can take from caches that don't reinforce the constant background noise of corporate marketing to youth. I agree with those who say emphasis should be on interesting and unique trades, not necessarily high-priced ones. It's really not about actual dollar value. I'd love to find opey one's mining stickers or one of Bear and Ting's Roman coins or a patch from Criminal. To me, these types of trades personalize the experience by allowing fellow geocachers to not only enjoy the comraderie of a shared interest but also allow a glimpse into the personalities of the other players. I have kids too so I'm not against toys at all. We have kid trades but try to pick out unique items that hopefully aren't something most kids already have 3 of in the bottom of their toybox. The kids help pick out their trade items and like coming up with *cool* things that they'd enjoy finding. GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

quote:I for one would tend to respect the rights of the hunter. To me it's not a matter of who has more of a right then the other. The fact that most hunters can only hunt for a few short weeks and I can goehunt all year long. If you're talking *hunting* in general, there are probably more open days than not during the year. Haven't actually counted them out but there are multiple seasons for many different critters. Also, if one is and *avid* hunter, there is always the option of hunting preserves, leasing private land, or even buying land yourself. I'm not against hunting at all, do it myself, but I don't like the attitude of exclusive rights to public land. Not advocating banning hunting on public land, just against whining if someone else chooses to use the land in a different manner. If the land were posted as closed except to hunters, that would be a different matter altogether... GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

I miss the find counts too. GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

I have a cache that was recently set up as part of a series of caches. I was planning on archiving it during hunting season (and physically removing it) but have since decided to relocate it altogether. Two reasons. One, it's part of a series and it would be inconvenient for someone doing the series to have it archived for several months. This was very poor planning on my part. Second, I discovered a tree stand a couple hundred yards from my cache. Well, actually I discovered a couple of hunters first and kept on eye on them to see what they were up to. There are far, far too many hunters around here with no qualms at all about shooting at *noises*. Not taking any chances at getting a geocacher shot searching one of my caches. I believe that geocaching is just as legitimate as hunting on public land but geocachers generally aren't the ones going into the woods with loaded weapons and buck fever. As far as some hunters feeling like certain land (or more to the point, any land they want to be on) is their private hunting ground, it's very much true. Even private land that they don't own and don't have permission to be on. Every year we have to deal with hunters who believe it's their right to fire onto to our land, run their dogs on our land, track their deer onto our land - even if it messes up our hunts, even leave their trash laying around on our land! We are hunters, we have several good neighbors that we get together with prior to hunting to season to map out stands and discuss who will be hunting when in order to keep from shooting towards one another or interfering with each others hunts. We work together to track deer and even get together for a day of pheasant hunting. But it never fails that there will be one or two individuals who feel that he/she is above cooperation or even the law. It's bad enough that my kids aren't allowed full run of our property during firearms season. In principle, it's just not right. But it's not worth a dead or injured child. A couple of years ago we had a young girl have her horse shot out from under her. How stupid do you have to be to mistake a horse that someone is riding for a deer?! Yes, we keep our horses up close to the barn too. That said, I don't have a problem with geocachers that refuse to archive their caches. I chose otherwise but I do agree with the principle of leaving it in place due to it being PUBLIC land. I do think a note on the cache page warning about hunting would be appropriate. If we had the kids along, which we always do, we would avoid the cache during deer season. Around here, deer season seems to be the one that brings out the shoot-at-anything-that-moves types. GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

We're heading out for a week and a half get-a-away shortly. When it's done, we'll have 3,000+ miles under our belts and hopefully a few caches. Like you, we're combining geocaching with other interests. Don't have nearly the gadgets you have though... I do have a folder filled with printouts of caches that we're hoping to find and maps to each. I've decided that I definitely am asking for a Palm Pilot for Christmas! Been looking at laptops but that'll have to wait... Just to torture myself, I've been doing cache searches for areas that we vacationed in last year. Yep, we missed out on some cool sounding caches since we hadn't yet discovered the game. Guess we'll have to go back! GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

We're heading out for a week and a half get-a-away shortly. When it's done, we'll have 3,000+ miles under our belts and hopefully a few caches. Like you, we're combining geocaching with other interests. Don't have nearly the gadgets you have though... I do have a folder filled with printouts of caches that we're hoping to find and maps to each. I've decided that I definitely am asking for a Palm Pilot for Christmas! Been looking at laptops but that'll have to wait... Just to torture myself, I've been doing cache searches for areas that we vacationed in last year. Yep, we missed out on some cool sounding caches since we hadn't yet discovered the game. Guess we'll have to go back! GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

I noticed my stats were off too. I tracked down the missing (a couple of finds and a couple of hides), entered the ID number (not the GC number!) and they were corrected when I checked a couple of minutes later. I bookmarked the site as well. Way cool! GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

The GeoStars Team

Is this just a thing for newcomers or are experienced geocachers going to meet also? We haven't been to any of the St. Joe County Parks but have been watching the activity there. Sounds like a great group that really wants to promote the activity! GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

Is this just a thing for newcomers or are experienced geocachers going to meet also? We haven't been to any of the St. Joe County Parks but have been watching the activity there. Sounds like a great group that really wants to promote the activity! GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

quote:Originally posted by Warm Fuzzies - Fuzzy:For updates on the closure status, if any, of Allen County Parks -- Fox Island (Earthling Vector Terra), Matea (Sarsaparilla), and the other parks with no caches yet -- you can probably call or email the Allen County Parks Department using the contact info on their web page. Good advice. I'd suggest calling rather than e-mailing. I e-mailed them awhile back regarding the status of Fox Island and never heard back. I only sent one info request and maybe it was an oversight but that's been my experience. Nice park if it's open. GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

But then I thought about our last cache outing. We went to a state park with 3 caches. One cache we knew was in very bad shape from previous logs, wet with ruined trade items and a useless log book. It was also pouring down rain. We hunted all 3 caches, including the ruined one. Just for the record, we did take a new log book and a couple of trade items in a ziplock baggie. While the park was nice, it's nothing spectacular. The fact that we (two teams with a total of 4 kids) would tromp through the weeds and briars in the pouring rain looking for tupperware could only mean one thing. It must be the hunt! It did finally stop raining and the last cache hunt was with sunshine. We also had a cookout while we all dried out. We are heading out on vacation soon and have picked out caches that sound like they are in scenic areas. We also picked out a few that don't sound too exciting but will be close to areas that we will be. The thought of being that close and not going for it ... yep, gotta be the hunt! GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars