Ltf

[Trinity's Crew]

In another thread Teamhawaii1981 & blueicyrose mentioned that one of their caching fears was being the last to find a cache before it required archiving.

 

Have you been "Last to Find"? Do you think you may have unwittingly or accidentally played a role in the demise of the cache?

[+TeamAO]

I would really not like to be the "Last to Find" on anything. That would say if it got muggled, it may have been because of my bad rehiding job.

 

I always do my best to rehide caches as good or better than I found them.

[+D@nim@l]

I was last to find a cache today as a matter of fact. Owner is getting out of the game, wanted someone to pull it, so we did. It was 5 mile hike round trip and worth every step. Too bad too, they dont make them like that anymore.

[+cache_test_dummies]

Being LTF doesn't necessarily mean you were responsible for the problem. I was the last to find this cache, but it was in pretty bad shape when I found it.

 

The owner decided to archive based on my log. I offered to retrieve the cache after the owner decided to shut it down, but I never heard back.

[+Teamhawaii1981 & blueicyrose]

I have yet to be LTF, but like Trinity's Crew said, it is my biggest fear.

 

If it has ANY chance of being muggled, I always hide it much better than I found it, blueicyrose always says I am being mean to the next hider.

[+geognerd]

I have been last-to-find 2 times. The first time was after I stupidly decided to trespass to find the cache so I could report back that the cache was intact, but on private property. The owner archived it for obvious reasons. The second time was at a really unique and tricky hide, but it was one of those things in plain sight that could be vandalized or stolen. I was 1 of only 2 to find that cache, and last to find. Then there was the time I was searching for a cache at the edge of a Target parking lot. I looked up and saw a guy on the roof of the Target looking in my direction. I was so worried that this would lead to the cache getting muggled/removed. The day after my find, a DNF was posted and 2 days after my find the cache was archived. But get this, two days after being archived, another cacher found it! The cache remained archived, and two weeks later the last finder said the cache was gone.

[+SeventhSon]

Have you been "Last to Find"? Do you think you may have unwittingly or accidentally played a role in the demise of the cache?

I was First, Last and Only To Find on this cache. One I'll never forget.

[+sodajerk]

My very first FTF. No one has found it again. I know I put it back like I found it My first FTF. At the time it was the only cache in the whole county.

[+Semper Questio]

I've been LTF 8 times out of 431 finds to date. 1 or 2 cuz of SBA logs. 1 cuz a land owner saw me get a cache and made me remove it from his land. Others for reasons beyond my control as far as I know.

[+badlands]

I've been last to find a couple of times. In once case I had placed a couple of bugs in the cache and it got muggled.

[+dogbreathcanada]

LTF should not be a metric anybody encourages. If it becomes a popular metric, we can then start to see caches being stolen so that people can claim LTFs.

 

(Of course, it would be easier to spot the cache thieves by the number of LTFs they claim.)

 

[+the hermit crabs]

We were LTF at least four times, with four different results.

 

(1) On this cache, the cache owner went out to the cache to upgrade the container to an ammo can less than 24 hours after I had found it. It had vanished. It wasn't archived, and since the owner had a new container with him anyway, he just replaced it. But the logbook & contents were gone -- including a brand new TB of ours that I had started off in that cache.

 

(2) Five weeks after we found this night cache, someone logged a DNF. Cache owner verified that it was gone, and it is currently disabled, pending replacement. This one also had a brand-new TB of ours in it.

 

(3) We found this cache, and a week later it was reported missing. The owner archived it. Luckily we hadn't dropped a TB in this one.

 

(4) There's one I can't provide a link to, as it was only active for about two hours. Like SeventhSon, I was FTF, LTF, OTF on it. It turned out that it didn't conform to the guidelines, and so it was retracted almost immediately, but not before I managed to find it and log it.

 

So we've hit for the cycle, having LTFs that ended in replacement, disabling, archival, and retraction.

[+Moose Mob]

I was LTF on the first few caches I found. Then I learned more about the sport. I probably should put them back.

[Trinity's Crew]

I was LTF on the first few caches I found. Then I learned more about the sport. I probably should put them back.

[Trinity's Crew]

LTF should not be a metric anybody encourages. If it becomes a popular metric, we can then start to see caches being stolen so that people can claim LTFs.

 

(Of course, it would be easier to spot the cache thieves by the number of LTFs they claim.)

 

Like Teamhawaii1981 & blueicyrose, I worry whether we have been seen. This is a big worry when all 9 of us go out. I also worry whether we have re-hidden the cache well enough. I worry about it enough that I periodically check back until the cache is found again.

 

It is NOT my intention to encourage people to destroy or steal caches to "boost" their Last to Find numbers. That is ludicrous. I just wanted to hear some of the stories related to being LTF.

[Clan Riffster]

I was LTF on this cache, but I'm thinking it was cuz my log was so explicit.

Nobody found it since May 12th. Considering the area, I can gair-run-tee it didn't get muggled.

[+AuntieWeasel]

LTF should not be a metric anybody encourages.

Neither is serious physical injuries, but people start threads on them all the time. Your point?

 

I was LTF thrice. Once, the cache was archived when I went to log (owner inattention on a soggy final stage), twice it was muggled after my visit. It's the latter that preys on the mind.

[+briansnat]

I've been LTF on a bunch of caches. I really don't think it was anything I did though.

[Trinity's Crew]

I've been LTF on a bunch of caches. I really don't think it was anything I did though.

That's probably because you're not as paranoid as I am.

[+Team Tired Boy]

We were last to find on a cache that required a mile long hike to a location on the Connecticut River. When we got there, we found cache contents strewn across a wide area. It looked like the cache didn't survive a recent flood. But since we found the log book (which by some miracle was actually dry), we signed it and claimed the find. Then we picked up all the contents, carried them out, and contacted the owner to let them know about it. They promptly archived the cache. We finished our on-line log with, "Took the cache; left nothing."

Edited November 12, 2005 by Team Tired Boy

[OuttaHand]

I was (sorta) the LTF on this cache.

Now the odd thing here is that this one is a virtual !

 

It was "muggled" in a really extreme way. You'll have to check my log and the comments of the cache owner in order to appreciate what happened!

[+TMAACA]

Yeah, I get nervous about being last to find. It has only happened once so far; on a micro in a VERY public area and the cache warned that you needed to be extremely cautious about retrieving. I would be more paranoid that we had done something wrong if it weren't for the fact that I have passed by it 20+ times since finding it and saw that it was still there.

[+Rick618]

Its going to happen at some point. Most recently one I had found was hidden in a Bradford pear tree, there were a row of them along both sides of the road. In the note from the owner ALL the trees were cut down and I assume that the cache went with them.

 

Tress Galore No More

Edited November 12, 2005 by Rick618

[+budd-rdc]

I hate to be LTF before a cache goes missing, since I try my best to employ stealth and rehide the cache as good as I found it. Sometimes, when there are too many muggles, I won't go for the smiley.

 

I have done a deliberate LTF on a cache that was abandoned and archived, and I suspected from doing research that it was still there. In that case, I was happy to be LTF.

[+GSVNoFixedAbode]

Well this one appears to be my most recent LTF although the spot was rather open and well-visited (FTF was a muggle!) Just a shame I started a new TB in that cache - gone before it started.

 

On the other hand, a previous legitimate LTF was one of my more memorable hunts

[+Fergus]

My friend Seamus and I were both FTF and LTF on a cache called H&B Harpers Ferry. within a few hours of us finding it the Park Service took the cache.

[+Team Perks]

I've been LTF many times. Eventually statistical odds catch up with you once you have enough finds. I've never taken it as something I've personally done. I've never faulted the LTF on any of my caches that have disappeared, and I doubt any other reasonable cache owner would either.

[Trinity's Crew]

Well we might have done it today on this cache. We were literally in the middle of lowering it when a hiker came out of nowhere. I'm pretty sure he saw us before we saw him. He watched us intently as he continued hiking. He was a couple of hundred feet away but it was obvious we piqued his interest. Only time will tell if we "blew it."

[+maggieszoo]

I have been LTF a couple of times. Once, I was seen and the muggle children wrecked it. The second one, the owner couldn't find it the day after I logged my find and archived it! I went back and it was still there, so I took it home and emailed the owner, but have yet to hear back. I have since placed my own cache near that spot.

[+Ed & Julie]

I was (sorta) the LTF on this cache.

Now the odd thing here is that this one is a virtual !

 

It was "muggled" in a really extreme way. You'll have to check my log and the comments of the cache owner in order to appreciate what happened!

Curious that you logged that as a "find"...

 

But that's a whole 'nuther thread

 

Found it = Didn't find it

[+Jester2112]

I've had it happen 3 times now. Most recently at this cache. I sent a PM to the owner offering advice on it's location and giving him my contact information if he still wasn't able to locate it. Great news was, he re-visited the site after getting my email, found the cache and it's back up and running now.

[Trinity's Crew]

Well, we can finally stop worrying about this one. the cache that we were caught retrieving was found this week by two more cachers!

[+Bluejaytoo]

We were the last finders of this cache before the bear got to it the second time. The owner finally gave up and archived it after that.

[+nctreker]

I was the LTF on this fantastic hide by Sissy & CR Old Santee Canal Park - Heron . For the life of me can't think of anything I did to compromise the cache location. Found it early in the morning without a muggle in sight. This cache was tough and really took some work to get to so it seems unlikely it was accidently found. It was well secured so I can't imagine it dislodged from its location. In any case I guess its human nature but you always question if there was anything you did that could have led to its discovery. I am glad Sissy chose to replace it because it is a great location for a cache.

Edited November 22, 2005 by nctreker

[+beejay&esskay]

595 caches found, 6 LTF.

 

1 removed by the owner, 1 in a bush cut down by the cemetery maintenance people, and the other 4 evidently discovered by muggles.

 

I was never surprised by muggles at the sites, but I still wonder...

[+Team Red Oak]

We've never had a FTF (we've never tried) so I thought maybe we could be LTF.

 

We saw a note on the cache page that the cache was going to be archived on 10 Sept. So on that date we went out caching and took a chance that we would beat the owner to the cache. We were correct, we got to the cache before the owner and the cache wasn't too bad, but it did need some TLC. However, the owner never pulled the cache on that date and others logged the find as recent as 15 Nov, but the cache was getting progressively worse from the logs written. Finally on 16 Nov a volunteer reviewer temp archived the cache.

 

I would not like to be LTF because we rehid the cache poorly and it was muggled. I would feel really bad and guilty.

[+Tickbait]

Heck, I've been LTF on every one of the 170 caches I've done...until the next cacher came along.

Edited November 22, 2005 by Tickbait

[SAWKS]

Hope i never end up being a LTF, because i'd feel awful.

[+TeamGuisinger]

Have you been "Last to Find"? Do you think you may have unwittingly or accidentally played a role in the demise of the cache?

I was First, Last and Only To Find on this cache. One I'll never forget.

OK, so that Micro was archived last year. How are travel bugs still being logged into it as of last month? Is that a way to log all bugs that come into one of your own caches? Just stick them in an archived cache and back to the real one before anyone notices? Just wondered.

[+SeventhSon]

Have you been "Last to Find"? Do you think you may have unwittingly or accidentally played a role in the demise of the cache?

I was First, Last and Only To Find on this cache. One I'll never forget.

OK, so that Micro was archived last year. How are travel bugs still being logged into it as of last month? Is that a way to log all bugs that come into one of your own caches? Just stick them in an archived cache and back to the real one before anyone notices? Just wondered.

You would have to discuss that with the ones logging the bugs in and out of it .

[+radioscout]

As far as I can remember I did not had a LTF yet and I hope that I never will have them. Some months ago a cache got some DNF logs after I found it and the owner disabled it. But it was still at its place. Someone found it and the owner enabled it again.

[+Enspyer]

I had an LTH (last to have) on a travel bug. It was a stupid thing to do- I gave it away to someone who said they knew about geocaching but apparently thought it was right to keep the bug. Now it's lost. I feel real bad about it still cuz it was someone's doll or something taking a trip. That was when I was a new cacher- it didn't ruin caching for me though, which is a relief!

[+edscott]

I've been last to find a few caches. One was severely vandalized and the decorated ammo can was missing, but the log book and goodies were there. A couple were in such bad shape that they were archived .. probably as a result of my logs. Don't think any have gone missing because of my rehiding as I usually leave them better hidden than when I find them, and as far as I know I have never been observed at a site, except a couple times by other approaching cachers.

[+edscott]

OK.. computer burped and I got a double post... how do I delete this one???

Edited November 24, 2005 by edscott