My First Cache Got Its First Dnf

[+woofiegrrl]

I searched the forums but couldn't find anything on this. How do I respond to a DNF on my first-ever hide? Should I rush out there and make sure the cache is still there? Wait and see if the next person finds it? How many DNFs should it rack up before I go check? It's a pretty easy find, and it's not too hard for me to get to, but I don't want to over-react and rush right out there.

[+Miragee]

Don't panic. Although I think I know how you feel. I don't want to get DNFs on my caches, and always feel bad when someone can't find one because I usually have very explicit hints.

 

I usually wait until two people DNF a cache before I check on it, unless it is really easy to check it the next time I am running errands or hiking the area.

[+Davispak]

My suggestion is first to look and see how many finds that person has. Are the Noob with less than 10 finds or are they someone with 500+ finds. Noob, wait until you get another DNF Veteran, go take a quick peek. Personally I keep a close eye on my hides and try to get out to them about once a month to keep em clean of cache trash and to inspect the Hide.

Ask yourself some questions while out there. Is a trail developing?, is it out in the open? Do I need to disable and rework a little? I say with in the first 3-6 months, you should watch your caches carefully to see whats going on with it and to tweek it if need be after that, you will know if the cache will hold up for a long time or if you may need to archive or modify to make it a better cache. If you are a responsible hider, people will see how much effort you put into it and want to emulate that attitude instead of just throwing out a plastic container in a pile of brush because they could.

Sorry got off on a rant there. I say if it isnt too inconvenient, go look.

[+Henki]

I got a DNF on a new cache, but the cacher was my brother who was somewhat new at the time. I actually laughed because he couldn't find it. A few days later there was a DNF from probably the most seasoned veteran in this area. When we saw that this cacher couldn't find our "muggle-proof" cache, we rushed right out to check on it. Sure enough, the entire cache was missing.

[+BlueDeuce]

If it's easy to check on, yeah I'll go check it. Just because.

 

Unfortunately I have a rare DNF on a two year old cache that not easy for me to get to. I hope they just missed it, but I don't know.

[CoyoteRed]

If it's easy to check on, yeah I'll go check it. Just because.

 

I concur. There's nothing wrong with checking on it if it doesn't put you out too much. I probably would check on a slam dunk that has a DNF and they mention they looked pretty good.

[salmoned]

Sounds like a "getting started" topic...

[+Airmapper]

My first hides first visitors DNF'ed. Newbie me hid it too dang well. I put a camo Rolaids bottle under a bunch of leaves, no wonder they had a hard time! It's still in place, and in the same shape, but I bumped the Difficulty stars up.

 

My first reaction was I went out and checked on it, no problem, but since then I have hidden some caches easier, and made sure the hard ones were well marked as such.

Edited March 12, 2006 by Airmapper

[+briansnat]

I generally won't be concerned until there are two DNFs. If its an easy cache, two in a row will send me out to look at it. If its a tough cache, I may wait three.

 

Looking at your cache, I might be moderately concerned. It appears to have been easily found up to this point, then a reasonably experienced geocacher couldn't find it. But that doesn't always mean a thing. Last week I DNFed a cache that was an easy find for most and a few days later two more people found it easily.

 

Anyway, it can't hurt to go out there and check on it if you have the time.

[+Rick618]

Since your cache GCTHGA is in the botanical garden it might have been cleaned up by the garden crew. In your description you don't mention if you have permission from the location so if the grounds crew were unaware than it may be in their hands.

This is also the time of year for wildflowers to start popping up so a muggle may have been off trail and found the cache as well.

To check or not is up to you, the DNF poster should be a seasoned finder with over 500 but we all can overlook the obvious. I know I missed one yesterday as I had in mind one size container and it was much smaller, reading .5 instead of 5" makes all the difference. After a phone a friend pointed out my error I spotted it right off.

Good luck

[+Huckleberry Slim]

A cacher in my area has e-mailed a hint to me through GC.com within 24 hours of my logging a DNF on one of her hides. I wrote back thanking her for the help, but until reading this thread didn't realize I could've helped her by describing the places I'd looked.

[+woofiegrrl]

Since your cache GCTHGA is in the botanical garden it might have been cleaned up by the garden crew. In your description you don't mention if you have permission from the location so if the grounds crew were unaware than it may be in their hands.

That's a good point. I did have permission to place it from the park manager, but that doesn't mean word filtered through to all employees. It should have been pretty well hidden even from a cleanup crew, but it's always possible it was picked up. Hopefully they held onto it instead of throwing it out - it had the usual "intentionally or not" blurb inside, hopefully they looked inside!

 

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I think I am going to go check on it today anyway, it's a beautiful day so I'll go take a look. I also have a decon container I've been meaning to hide, so I'll bring that along and if the cache is truly missing I'll replace it.

[+Team Cotati]

I'd say that since no one other than you would know whether or not you had checked on the status of your cache, that you really shouldn't worry too much what others might think. ;-)

[+woofiegrrl]

Sure enough, the cache had been muggled; fortunately I was able to replace it. Thanks all!