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Note Or Not Found?


jeepxj97

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We were doing well yesterday till we came to within 500 feet of the final. It was in a pretty wide open area with campers all around. We didn't even try to find it with everyone around. how should i log this? Is it a no find or just a note to let it be know that we were close but didn't go for the final. Thanks

Robb :unsure:

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Sometimes it's best not to overthink things. You went to find it, you didn't find it. I would log a DNF.

 

I use notes for other situations. Like, every time I take a travel bug out to a cache near the interstate by my house to drop it off. I've been there like 10 times. I log a note each time I dump a bug. I already found it, so it's not a find or a DNF.

 

I also use notes when I go out to my own cache to maintain it.

 

I would post a DNF, and simply state that you couldn't get close due to the number of muggles in the area, and will try again later.

 

Good luck :unsure:

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You went to find it, you didn't even look, you have no idea if there's a problem with the cache or not. Log it as a note. Too many people won't look for a cache if the last log is a DNF. And not everyone reads the logs, just sees the smilies in their offline program and can tell finds from DNF. Use the DNF's for when you've actually searched for a cache and can't find it, not just when you have a waypoint pulled up in your GPS and don't even get to ground zero.

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As BigDog says, you’re going to get different opinions on this. They go from one extreme to the other. Some say if they leave their house intending to find the cache and anything stops them, even a flat tire in their driveway, they log a DNF. Others say unless they found what they think is the area and hunted for X time (hour?) (and maybe don’t plan to try again) they don’t DNF.

 

My personal rule is, if something about the cache or its location (parking, muggles, dense forest, water, etc.) stopped me from trying or if I try and fail I DNF. I occasionally violate my own rule (if it was rated 5 star terrain and when I get near I decide I ain’t going to climb that rock cliff). Recently I went to a cache that, from the description, probably was intended to be a night cache. When I got there it became obvious it had to be done at night. I didn’t DNF, but now that I type this I realize I probably should have.

 

One area I find people don’t seem to log DNFs is puzzle caches. I have a puzzle I know several (maybe many) people have tried and failed, but only one person has ever logged a DNF and he had no other finds.

 

One who found it worked on it for a week and tried several times before finding it, but didn't log any DNFs. When is one expected to log a DNF on a puzzle. I tried one yesterday and failed on my first attempt. I logged a DNF.

 

Edited to add:

 

Here's my article on DNFs

Edited by Thot
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We were doing well yesterday till we came to within 500 feet of the final.  It was in a pretty wide open area with campers all around.  We didn't even try to find it with everyone around.  how should i log this?  Is it a no find or just a note to let it be know that we were close but didn't go for the final.  Thanks

Robb :unsure:

My opinion is that this is worthy of a Note. I use DNFs (and the little red box in GSAK denoting a DNF) to tell me the condition of the cache, not the parking lot or any area away from GZ.

 

I posted a note one time when I got within 12 feet of a cache location since I couldn't actually search for the cache because someone was sleeping in the front seat of their car and the bumper was within inches of GZ.

 

The cache could have been easily found . . . if I could have looked for it. A DNF under those circumstances wouldn't be right, since the situation I encountered was temporary.

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I write DNFs if we actually tried to find the cache and couldn't. If someone was sitting on the park bench that the cache was magnetized to, and that caused me to walk on by and never come back, I'd write a note. If I sat down and felt under the bench and didn't find the cache, it's a DNF. We don't set standards for how long or thoroughly we have to look, or whether we'll come back, or whether we believe the cache is missing or just too hard for us; the question is whether we ever actually looked for it or not. I don't mind admitting failure, but only if I actually tried.

 

Opinions, of course, vary :unsure:.

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If you log a note there is no impact that I can think of, but if you log a DNF this shows up, without explanation, in offline programs like GSAK and others.

 

As has been mentioned some folks won't seek a cache if the last log was a DNF because they figure it might be gone and so they will pass on it.

 

With that in mind it is my opinion that your circumstances warrant a log rather than a DNF. You didn't search for the cache and if you didn't look then of course you didn't find. DNFs, in my opinion, are for when you look and don't find. You didn't look.

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Thanks all for replying! I think I am going to post a note of trying but since we didn't actually search for the cache, we don't feel it was a DNF. I have no problems posting DNF but we never had the chance to find it. We will return on a non-holiday weekend to re-search.

 

thanks

Robb :unsure:

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If you log it as a DNF then the next person who sets out to look for it might think it's not there. You got within about 2 football fields from it. Lots of ground betwix you and it. I think a note would be appropriate and explain about the campers/muggles which precluded you from looking.

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Sometimes it's best not to overthink things. You went to find it, you didn't find it. I would log a DNF.

 

I use notes for other situations. Like, every time I take a travel bug out to a cache near the interstate by my house to drop it off. I've been there like 10 times. I log a note each time I dump a bug. I already found it, so it's not a find or a DNF.

 

I also use notes when I go out to my own cache to maintain it.

 

I would post a DNF, and simply state that you couldn't get close due to the number of muggles in the area, and will try again later.

 

Good luck :unsure:

I disagree. I think if you got to the site (or what you thought was the site, anyway) and hunted it to the best of your ability but could not find the cache then, yes, log a DNF. If circumstances permitted you from not effectively hunting the cache, I would say post a note. A DNF could potentially be used by the cache owner as an indicator of problems with the cache. If you never reached the cache area, I would think a note would be better.

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If you log it as a DNF then the next person who sets out to look for it might think it's not there.

I assume a DNF will be accompanied by an explanation of why he DNFed, so no one should believe the cache is missing. Also, by far and away the most DNFs are for reasons other than missing caches, so it would be ill advised for someone to jump to the conclusion a DNF means a missing cache.

 

If something about the cache caused you not to find it then that information is useful to other cachers and, someone said, they won't get it if you post a note and they use a cache listing program like GSAK.

 

In this case it was something about the cache that prevented finding (even hunting) it. To wit, a location with enough muggles nearby to make access difficult sometimes. If I only have enough time to do one or the other and have to choose between going for the cache that has no access problems and the one where I may have to wave off because of muggles I'll choose the former, so the information is helpful.

 

I don't see the purpose of DNFs being self flagellation or a way to humiliate cachers. If there is no real difference between notes and DNFs why ever post a DNF. Just post a note saying you didn't find it and why.

 

edited to add:

 

On the other hand, if you couldn't get to it because the water was high because the first hurricane in 100 years was blowing through while you were on your way to it, it makes for an interesting note, but doesn't add any useful information

Edited by Thot
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I file DNF's if I actively hunt for the cache and can't find it. If I'm muggled out of an area and didn't have a chance to search, I don't even post a note.

 

Posting DNF's when you don't even begin to search is kinda like saying, "I failed to buy a lambchop today" every time you drive past a grocery store. If you go into the grocery store and walk up to the meat counter with intent to buy a lambchop and there aren't any lambchops there, that's reason to file a DNF.

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Many here have suggested a note would be appropriate here because muggles kept you from getting to the cache area.

 

For me, that's the perfect reason for a DNF. If I go to a cache, and there are muggles around preventing me from searching for it, I log a DNF, thus indicating to anyone who looks at the logs that the cache might be a little difficult to get to.

 

Yup, the last log is now a DNF. Why? Because there are muggles around and if you go to search for this one, you might not get to it. I think a DNF accurately descibes the cache condition here.

 

If I look through the logs and see all smileys, I'm going to make the assumption that it's a fairly easy find--that I shouldn't expect any trouble. But why should I think this if the cache is under a muggle-rich bench, or hidden in a busy campground? No.. the DNF is appropriate here, because it tells future finders that the cache isn't a gimme.

 

Jamie

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Many here have suggested a note would be appropriate here because muggles kept you from getting to the cache area.

 

For me, that's the perfect reason for a DNF. If I go to a cache, and there are muggles around preventing me from searching for it, I log a DNF, thus indicating to anyone who looks at the logs that the cache might be a little difficult to get to.

 

Yup, the last log is now a DNF. Why? Because there are muggles around and if you go to search for this one, you might not get to it. I think a DNF accurately descibes the cache condition here.

 

If I look through the logs and see all smileys, I'm going to make the assumption that it's a fairly easy find--that I shouldn't expect any trouble. But why should I think this if the cache is under a muggle-rich bench, or hidden in a busy campground? No.. the DNF is appropriate here, because it tells future finders that the cache isn't a gimme.

 

Jamie

I agree with Jamie. I'd DNF it. I set out to hunt the cache and came up empty. DNF.

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Post a note. You didn't look for it therefore it was impossible for you to find it. That was your decision. Each person's evaluation of the muggle threat at a given location can vary wildly. That is why notes exist, to leave information that can be helpful to other cache hunters. DNF's are used to indicate a failure to locate after you have actually and actively looked for the cache.

 

It has been my experience that the vast majority of cache owners go out of their way to notify hunters of actual or potential muggle activity at the cache location. In several cases I have even seen specific guidelines posted with the cache listing which indicate what days and times you can expect high muggle activity.

 

If you didn't look for the cache, leave a note. Simple. ;)

 

I would post a Note, and simply state that I couldn't get close due to the number of muggles in the area. Whether or not you intend to try again later matters not. :unsure:

 

If the cache owner failed to mention in his listing that there was high muggle activity at the location, I'd also send him/her an email with the information. :P

 

Cache on Dude!!

Edited by Team Cotati
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