Do You Feel Guilty "sneaking" Around...

[+arbys_ovenmitt]

I found one where the cache owner hid it in her father's front yard and I went to the door before I looked for it, to tell him what I was doing and it really seemed to tick him off that I bugged him like that. He did tell me where it was though but I should have just snuck around and looked for it on my own.

[CoyoteRed]

Anyone else feel this way?

 

Nope. It's part of the hobby to maintain the "us versus them" of it. "Ha, ha. Ya'll don't know what I'm do-in'," said in a sing-song manner.

[Hennessey's]

I haven't really ever felt guilty, however I was out of town the other day caching by myself on a paved "walking trail". It was about 6pm and I felt kind of awkward as I was coming out of the trees in an area that other than caching I had no reason being in. Two women were walking on the trail and they both changed their walking speed, kept looking over their shoulders and one of them pulled her mace out of her shorts. I felt like a creep and was kinda offended but then I thought what they must have thought. If only they knew I was looking for a hidden tupperware, so I could sign a log book

[+Dtzz]

well i fell more comfortable, whe i caching with someone. As i moved away a month ago, i keep caching alone, and believe me sometimes its hard not to be suspiccious. Especially when u live in a country u dont knw the language yet...

[Dangerjackson]

I don't feel guilty but I often feel awkward. i don't ever go caching alone unless I know I can easily find it. But I always have some one with me for the harder ones. But I often think, "Oh goodness I must look crazy right now." Some times we go caching late at night when we're all off work, and I would be lying if I said we haven't been stopped by the cops a couple times. We just explain what we're doing and they smile and tell us to carry on. No harm done. I even had a cop help me look for one.

But guilty? No. I'm not breaking any laws.

[+ChannelFadge]

Recently Ive been back to the same spot 3 times to try to find a cache. Its on a really long deserted bridle path, on one side is a large wall or spiked metal fence, on the other is a farmers field surrounded by barbed wire, so basically its a long lonely path with no escape on either side and even I feel a bit spooked walking down it.

 

So the first time I go I end up sneaking around in the farmers field trying to find this cache, then a woman comes along walking her dog, the dog stops and stares at me and she calls it on...obviously a bit scared i might be a weirdo lurking around... I leave with a DNF

 

A few days later I got back at a different time of day... i begin searching... the same woman comes down the path walking her dog... this time im actually lurking behind a bush... the dog stares at me, she calls her dog and hurries away... I get another DNF

 

So today, I go back once more... the path is deserted. I have a good look round and finally find the cache. sign the log, and head down the path to leave. It starts chucking down and as I round the corner I see someone coming towards me with their hood up (i cant really see very well who it is). I give them the old 'nice weather huh?' smile, but she just scowls at me in a dissaproving manner. Thats when I notice her dog and realise its the same woman from my last 2 visits.

 

God knows what she thinks of me, some grinning idiot hanging around the bridle path in the rain. Im just glad i found it this time so i dont have to snoop around there anymore.

[cerberez]

being sneaky is my favorite part of the game. . .

 

I´m actually thinking of getting an old-fashioned clunky GPS unit, because my cell-phone gps makes stealth too easy (I can always pretend to be checking my email or something)!

[+vegaschick]

I sometimes feel out of place, but never guilty. My fiance just feels awkward and is always worried what other people are thinking of us while we're caching, but I think he's getting past that now.

[Raver Dave]

Like others have said not a fan of residential caches and caches near playgrounds / schools are generally avoided during the day unless I'm with a group.

 

Not got a problem with security / police I'll happy just explain what I'm doing, just the other night I popped out for a FTF hunt at 1 in the morning and just as I pulled up at the site which was a wooded area at the enterance to a shooting range I saw a police car coming down the road, they pulled up alongside and enquired what I was doing there, I brief explanation of geocaching ensued then they wished me luck and left me to it, I hopped out and bagged the cache.

 

On another occasion I was hiding a cache (micro) in a layby on a public road, I had just hidden it and was stood by the car jotting down co-ordinates whan a police van from the nearby Nuclear works (300m and two roads away) stopped and asked what I was upto, again I explained geocaching, showed them the cache and after a quick chat again they left me to it advising they would inform the others about the cache, though at the moment I've not decided if I'm going to go ahead with that one.

[+coffee/wired]

Anyone else feel this way?

Lately, I've been carrying this ginormous camera I borrowed from work. It was the first generation digital SLR, so it was state-of-the-art...almost ten years ago. My little modern pocket Canon takes pictures pretty much as good, but this thing is so huge and professional-looking, it answers the question "what the heck is she doing out there?" from 100 yards.

I always have my Nikon D40 with me, so it's handy to use as an excuse. Especially since I generally have 300+ pictures on the memory card to back me up as a photographer, and macrophotography is my passion, so why wouldn't I be taking pictures of bugs/leaves/soil? There just might happen to be a cache there as well

 

I do feel... odd.. about sneaking around. Mostly I worry that someone will see me and the cache will get muggled. I have excuses in case I am questioned (and don't have the camera) like, "I'm looking for my friend's bracelet, she says she lost it here last night" or "My daughter needs leaves for a school project." Only once have I told someone what I was actually doing, but the guy had just stopped traffic to make sure my daughter and I got across a busy intersection safely, only to find out that we needed to cross back over. He had offered to walk with us further because "no one in this town stops for pedestrians" (so true.) So I had to let him in on it, I don't think he "got" it though. He's probably still wondering what GPS is and what it has to do with money LOL

[+kimgh]

I don't get too uneasy while searching, but I have been questioned a few times by muggles. As stealthy as I try to be, it's hard to be unobtrusive when you're 6'8". Now I try to have a couple "stories" prepared just in case, like "I'm helping a friend search for his missing ferret" or "My aunt is buried around here somewhere." Now I almost look forward to getting questioned, just to see how bizzare a story I can get away with.

It's amazing to me that some people are forward enough to question some big goomer stomping around in the woods, but dumb enough to believe just about anything I tell them.

 

I'm thinking in terms of protective coloration. An orange vest and hardhat might help muggle onlookers to explain to themselves what you are about and probably would not bother you.

 

Another dodge might be a plain baseball cap, coveralls and a clipboard. This might work nicely for grabbing urban caches.

 

These won't work in all situations, of course. Sometimes you just have to brazen it out. But I'm considering getting "kitted out" with such gear for situations it might help with.

[+Crafty Turtle]

I'm new to caching, and I'm enjoying the game of playing spies. That's part of the excitement.

The only one where I felt guilty, was a micro-magnetic on the ornate iron fence of a Catholic Church. Midday Mass has just got out, leaving me wondering if I should just leave. All those sweet old ladies, and the priest in his robes - and here's me doing something sneaky and covert in front of God and all.

 

But you can't hide from God, just Muggles, so I searched more and found what I was looking for.