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Finally Found:


mikemjm

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I hid a cache over three months ago. It was my first. It had been over three months since I placed it. Took a lot of time and effort to do this. Today it was found. This is a bit long and I was beginning to become concerned. It was placed in a state park where there is a small fee. Could that have been the reason why it took so long? Or possibly it was placed in a rural area not really close to a city of any size that took so long for FTF? But, regardless, I am very pleased that cache was located by someone

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Sweet looking cache. I'd go for it, if I were in the area. I do avoid paying for park entrance on principle, but I doubt that's kept people away. Some folks are leery of looking for someone's first cache, especially if they don't have many finds, because *sometimes* such people post coordinates that are way off.

 

So congrats on your first finder, and I wish you many more. Thanks for hiding a cache!

 

-Map only :anibad:

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I suspect that you may have placed the cache in a part of Florida where you do not have a high concentration of cachers, and you may be seeing a particular lack of cachers who are interested in caches in the wilderness, and rather, your local cachers may prefer quick "cache and dash" caches. Please remember that many modern cachers seem to want only the latter cache type, although such caches are personally not my preference at all. By the way, I never have a problem with paying small entrance fees to state parks, and that would not stop me from hunting a cache!

 

One last note: I too have a wilderness area-type cache which has not yet been found. In mid-September, I placed a wilderness cache (GCQNT7) in a cave at about 9,000 feet elevation, deep in a remote canyon in Wyoming in a national forest; a 3.5 mile hike one way, with an elevation change of 2,000 feet, is required to reach the cache. Plenty of cachers have visited the cache listing page, but the cache has not yet been found. In fact, if it is not found within the next few days, it will remain unfound for another 6 or 7 months, as that backcountry area gets socked in by deep snow and ice for about 7 months per year, and becomes almost totally inaccesible during that time, until late June. I also placed an extreme cache on an abandoned RR bridge in the same area at the same time (mid-September), and it remained unfound for almost two months; it was logged for the first time only last weekend, by a team of three Idaho cachers.

 

Ultimately, if you place a cache, they will come, but in some areas it may take longer than in others! I wish you the best with your cache and future caches!

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Looks like a good cache. The reason it went so long before it was found and the probably reason you won't get many hits is because there are no other caches near it (closest is 8 miles away). Unfortunately many (if not most) geocachers won't bother with a cache unless they can bag a bunch in one quick shot

 

Place two or three more caches nearby and you'll see the finds roll in. That's the state of geocaching today.

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I'd guess it's the combination of the park fee, the distance from where folks live and the first DNF. Given it was your first hide, that may have kept some of the regulars (there are regulars) in your area away. Not wanting to pay a fee to hunt a possibly unfindable cache. It was good of the first finder to specifically reference good coordinates. Now that someone has found it and "certified" the coords, you're likely to see more hunters.

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I have noticed that there seems to be a curse on caches that haven't been found in a while. The greater the period of time since the most recent find grows, the less attractive the cache seems to become. I guess people feel like it's being avoided for a "good" reason. It seems like a cache might sit unvisited for months, but as soon as someone logs a find, it will get several more visits within the next couple of weeks. Now that one person has found it, perhaps others will be tempted to try! One thing you might want to do if the same situation occurs again is to go out, check on the cache, then post a note saying you have checked on it and it's still there. This would also give you the opportunity to verify the accuracy of your coordinates. Good luck with this and future caches!

 

P.S. Maybe you could set up a quick and easy micro near the park entrance or picnic area. Something with easy access. It might lure more cachers into the area if they are able to log two finds.

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Sweet looking cache. I'd go for it, if I were in the area. I do avoid paying for park entrance on principle, but I doubt that's kept people away.

What principle would that be? Parks are underfunded and falling apart as it is; why would you, who use the parks and contribute to wear-and-tear on them, refuse to pay your fair share? Think of it as similar to your premium GC membership.

 

treedweller

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I have noticed that there seems to be a curse on caches that haven't been found in a while. The greater the period of time since the most recent find grows, the less attractive the cache seems to become.

That seems funny to me. I'm a newbie and I specifically have searched my area for caches that have not been logged in a while. Maybe I am not the norm, but there are some of us out there that prefer the challenge of a cache that is not visited often.

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That seems funny to me. I'm a newbie and I specifically have searched my area for caches that have not been logged in a while. Maybe I am not the norm, but there are some of us out there that prefer the challenge of a cache that is not visited often.

We've done that a few times, looking for caches that haven't been found in a while. We call those "Land of the Lost" caches. The fresh "found it!" logs get the cache gods stirring and the finds start coming in again.

 

:anitongue:

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Seems like new caches around here never go long without being found. It is true that cache density is highest in more urban areas and most caches are quick grab n go kind. I always seem to take a while caching. That's probably I'm busy enjoying nature. Geeze I read a recent log of someone complaining that a cache was in an hard to reach area. The funny thing was the cache description warned of the hazards and the terrain was a 4. Duh! They had the nerve to tell the hider to place the cache in a more accessible area. There are tons of easy caches out there and relatively few of the extreme ones.

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Two things:

 

1. We love to look for caches that haven't been found in a while, it makes it more fun... almost as much as an FTF

 

2. We have two caches in a larger city that have not been hit in little a while. We have formed the theory that there may be many fair weather cachers out there, and as the rain, snow, cold, and hunters start to come the cachers stop.

 

Of course the weather aspect many not apply in Florida, but has anyone else experienced anything of the like?

 

Also, if it's a very good hide, we don't think people always log their DNFs.

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Looks like a good cache. The reason it went so long before it was found and the probably reason you won't get many hits is because there are no other caches near it (closest is 8 miles away). Unfortunately many (if not most) geocachers won't bother with a cache unless they can bag a bunch in one quick shot

 

Place two or three more caches nearby and you'll see the finds roll in. That's the state of geocaching today.

I agree here. We had a cache in an urban park that did not have many finds, until other caches were placed in proximity. Although there are rules against creating power trails, you may want to do as suggested here and place a few along the way to the cache to create a reason to get there.

 

For some of us, yes, it's about the numbers and how many I can pick up along a route.

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the weather aspect many not apply in Florida

 

Actually weather is a big factor to forest hides in Florida. Most folks just stop doing them from May to October. Too hot, too wet, too buggy. I'm not much on moving travel bugs, but come spring I do a bug round-up, as bugs in the swamp caches near me will sit all summer. I gather them all and generally take them to an event. The urban and county park caching will continue.

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:(;) Hey, thanks for the cache, If I'd realized A new cache was where yours is I would have gone down to do it. I used to live in HOMELAND and know what a great area PAYNE CREEK PARK is. Seeing your post on this forum caused me to see what else is in that area. I am planning to take a drive down 17 and spend a day caching. Thanks for showing the way! I now live in LAKELAND,Fl. Come on up we have lots of caches for you to find. I think that all the comments posted were valid, IKs on the weather factor in Fl was right on the money. I for one will be looking for your cache. You went a long time without a comment on your cache, in the form of a cache log, thanks for hanging in there!
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. . .  Place two or three more caches nearby and you'll see the finds roll in. That's the state of geocaching today.

That is what I have been doing lately. There was only one cache at the top of a nearby peak. It got few visits. A few months ago, I placed five caches on the mountain. Then a few weeks ago, I placed five more.

 

I'm hoping all those caches will encourage people to make the drive out to my area. ;)

 

When I hiked to a new cache to be FTF, I placed two caches along the way to encourage others to make the trip to a really neat area.

Edited by Miragee
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Sweet looking cache.  I'd go for it, if I were in the area.  I do avoid paying for park entrance on principle, but I doubt that's kept people away.

What principle would that be? Parks are underfunded and falling apart as it is; why would you, who use the parks and contribute to wear-and-tear on them, refuse to pay your fair share? Think of it as similar to your premium GC membership.

 

treedweller

Off topic, but I just want to say "me too." Sure I miss the days when I could stop at a state park, take a shower, eat lunch, see some great scenery... all for free! But those days are gone. Now I look at a "user fee" about the same as a library fine. A donation to a good cause where I get back great value.

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Sweet looking cache.  I'd go for it, if I were in the area.  I do avoid paying for park entrance on principle, but I doubt that's kept people away.

What principle would that be? Parks are underfunded and falling apart as it is; why would you, who use the parks and contribute to wear-and-tear on them, refuse to pay your fair share? Think of it as similar to your premium GC membership.

 

treedweller

Well, for me it is hard to justify paying 7 or 8 dollars just for a 15 minute cache hunt. I get weird looks from the people in the little booths when I pay that amount, find the cache and leave right away, especially if it is raining and cold and I am the only one in the park. ;)

 

I have never not ponied-up the entrance fee. (Or, without using a double-negative: I always pony up the fee.)

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Well, for me it is hard to justify paying 7 or 8 dollars just for a 15 minute cache hunt. I get weird looks from the people in the little booths when I pay that amount, find the cache and leave right away, especially if it is raining and cold and I am the only one in the park. :huh:

Maybe you should stop, smell the roses, and get your money's worth. ;);)

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On a marginally related topic, I think one of our local Black Hills caches holds the record for longest placement-to-first find; almost four years. Of course, it wasn't actually listed all during that time, but it's a very interesting story. A couple of local guys placed a cache deep in a rocky canyon shortly after Geocaching first began to become popular, then lost the coordinates and became occupied with raising family and other things and stopped hiking together, never got around to going back out to relocate and list the cache. Then last summer one of the two, a very popular and gifted local school teacher, died in a tragic accident while out jogging one morning. His friend decided to go back out and relocate the cache and list it as a tribute to his fallen buddy. The cache had been found and signed by several hikers in the meantime, but I was very proud to be the first actual geocacher to hunt and find it. Check out GCR4AD, Andrew's Cache, and if you find yourself in the area don't pass up the chance to find it. It's really one of the better caches, scenery-wise, in the area.

Edited by Tickbait
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That is very interesting, Tickbait.

 

This cache, "Snail Rock" also has an interesting history. It has only been logged four times since its placement on 5/25/2003.

 

One of the people with the team that placed the cache was a quadraplegic dependent on a ventilator.

 

There is a picture of him and his team on the lid of the cache.

 

OriginalTeam_704.jpg

 

Looking for and finding that cache was so fun, I want to search out more of these infrequently-found caches. ;)

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