+agilefox Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 I know there are no formal rules in geocaching and we all play our own game, but is there etiquette around claiming your own caches as finds? I placed one cache that I have never marked found, and have another I adopted, but found it when another cacher owned it. What do you think? Do you claim finds on your own caches? Quote Link to comment
Trinity's Crew Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 (edited) Assuming you have a find on the adopted cache prior to your adoption, keep it. As for your own cache, it's considered bad form to log it as a find. Edited June 27, 2006 by Trinity's Crew Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 (edited) I have a count find of a cache that I later adopted. It took an amendment of the Puritan Constitution, but it stands as valid. Logging your own cache, even if you actually had to search for it after placing it, is still a crime. edit: something's even spellcheck can't catch. Edited June 27, 2006 by BlueDeuce Quote Link to comment
+humanloofa Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 I just addopted the first cache I ever found, so I will keep the smillie for that one. All the caches I placed or helped place will not be logged as a find for me. If you placed it there did you really find it? Quote Link to comment
+Wadcutter Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Find it? Did you forget where you put it? Why would you want to say you found something when you know where you put it? Doesn't make any sense at all. Quote Link to comment
+George1 Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Numbers, numbers, It's not about the numbers!!! Enjoy the game for what it is. If numbers are your thing then go for it. BUT finding your own cache ---- Bad Number!! Unless you don't mind false numbers then go for it. Remember it's not about numbers!! This is supposed to be fun. Quote Link to comment
+budd-rdc Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Except for adoption, most owner finds of their own caches are either from ignorance or mistake, so I don't get bent out of shape. There have been rare cases of people doing this for find counts, but use your judgement and mistrust them accordingly. Even if you had to find your own cache that was moved, you'd still have the advantage of knowing the area better than other cachers, and you'd know what the container is supposed to look like. The answer? It's bad form. Quote Link to comment
+agilefox Posted June 27, 2006 Author Share Posted June 27, 2006 That confirms what I thought, but I'm still suprised to get a unanimous opinion in this forum! I'm keeping the find on the cache I later adopted and will not claim my own cache. Thanks for the reality check. Quote Link to comment
+ArriBlossom Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 I haven't hidden any caches yet. HTH. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 (edited) What do you think? Do you claim finds on your own caches? Not sure why I would. I already know where they are. Maybe when I'm 90 and the memory is going. Edited June 27, 2006 by briansnat Quote Link to comment
+Semper Questio Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 I have finds on caches I previosuly found and then later dadopted. I see no call to "find" a cache I hid even if it got muggled and moved. THen it is a recovery. Just a part of maintenance. I do have 1 where I was in on developing the hide, but I really don't know exactly where it is. I know how to solve the puzzle and the final coords, but I've never been to the actual cache site - my partner did that part. A bit of a gray area there, but my find ethics have prevented me from going and claiming it. Quote Link to comment
+BadAndy Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 I logged both a dnf and a find on one of my caches. It was a micro on a sherman tank. I had gotten an email that it was missing, so I went to check. Searched for 30 mins and couldn't find it and logged a dnf. I emailed the last finder he told me he'd moved it to a better spot so I checked there and after another 30 mins I found it. Logged a smiley and moved it back where it was supposed to be. It wasn't about the numbers, it was about the irony of not being able to find my own cache. Quote Link to comment
+Cornerstone4 Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 I wouldn't on one of my caches, but I did on an event I co-hosted. (Actually, it wasn't a find it was an "Attended") I figured what the heck, I did attend, so I logged it as such. (Only once though!) Quote Link to comment
+Kealia Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 The only one of my caches I could even fathom POSSIBLY logging a finid on was one that I placed that wasn't approved. I had to email a local that lived closer to it to move it for my and send me new coords. When I went out on a group hike with some friends, mine was one of the caches we hunted. It was placed about 300 feet from where I originally put it so in THEORY I could claim a find. I just couldn't see doing it, though. SOunds like you've made your decision already so I'm just yappin' at this point. Quote Link to comment
+Jhwk Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 I found two of my current caches, and did maintenance/replacement on them before I was able to adopt them. So, before I adopted, I was OK. Now all of my numbers are suspect. Quote Link to comment
+Pablo Mac Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 (edited) Some friends of mine and I helped some new cachers place a cache, then my friends claimed the FTF find. Pretty lame, huh? Edited June 27, 2006 by Pablo Mac Quote Link to comment
+BigHank Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 Some friends of mine and I helped some new cachers place a cache, then my friends claimed the FTF find. Pretty lame, huh? Yup, not something that I would hold in high regard, that's for sure. Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 Some friends of mine and I helped some new cachers place a cache, then my friends claimed the FTF find. Pretty lame, huh? Did you discuss it with them? Quote Link to comment
+ph4tcharlie Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 (edited) I have to wonder... does this question even have to be asked? Can any geocacher's sense of sportsmanship be so far out of whack that they would even consider logging their own caches and not consider it cheating? I understand there are some people out there who would go about bringing up their numbers by logging lost caches, or by claiming a problem with the log... but they know they're cheating in the numbers game. Edited June 28, 2006 by ph4tcharlie Quote Link to comment
+edscott Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 Only with a doctors note that you totally lost your memory after you hid it... Quote Link to comment
Sean's Mom Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Some friends of mine and I helped some new cachers place a cache, then my friends claimed the FTF find. Pretty lame, huh? Kind of like this, huh? Yeah...your son helps you hide it, then claims FTF. Not very classy, IMO. Quote Link to comment
+olbluesguy Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 I think I should be able to claim a find on some of my caches out there. When people don't put them back where they belong I have to search just as hard as anyone else to put them back where they belong. Did anyone ever claim a DNF on one of their own caches? Quote Link to comment
+Mudfrog Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 This kinda seems like french kissing your Mom to me. I guess that technically you can "find" your own cache, but why would you even think about doing it? The previous find on the cache a person adopts is fine. Finding your own, even if it's been moved,,, NOPE! Quote Link to comment
+budd-rdc Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 I think I should be able to claim a find on some of my caches out there. When people don't put them back where they belong I have to search just as hard as anyone else to put them back where they belong. Did anyone ever claim a DNF on one of their own caches? Owners claiming DNFs on their own caches are rare, but I've seen them. Most often, they post "Disabled" or "Archived" instead when that happens. I almost DNF'd my own cache when a considerate muggle moved it during construction and hid it more evil. I found it, but did not give myself a smiley. Quote Link to comment
+Night Stalker Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 I know of one cache that I hid which I was tempted to log. Even though I knew where I hid it, it was so well hidden that it took me 1/2 hour to find it. It was an ammo can. You would think it wouldn't be that hard, but I was pretty creative. Of course our local cache maggot didn't have the same problem I did. He has removed it from 3 different hiding places until I finally gave in and archived it. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 (edited) When we had moving caches, I wouldn't have a problem with a cache owner 'finding' his cache, assuming that it had been moved from where he had hid it. This thread is on a very slow burn, isn't it? Edited June 30, 2006 by sbell111 Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 (edited) I think I should be able to claim a find on some of my caches out there. When people don't put them back where they belong I have to search just as hard as anyone else to put them back where they belong. Did anyone ever claim a DNF on one of their own caches? I have logged a DNF on my own cache. I searched for it twice and couldn't find it. I posted a DNF after the first time in part to be funny, but also to show that there might have been an issue, but I wasn't convinced it was gone. After the second try I archived it. The last finder described where it was to me and my wife and I still came up empty after an hour of searching. I still wasn't convinced it was gone though. Its not an area where it would be accidently discovered and its too rugged and nasty for a casual thief. My suspicion that it was still there was proven true last week, when someone found it. Even though I archived it last fall he still had the waypoint on his GPS. I unarchived it and will get out there someday to see if I can actually find it. I still wouldn't consider logging a find on it though. Edited June 30, 2006 by briansnat Quote Link to comment
Pluckers Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 If you have the skills, I urge you to write a script that will log *every* cache as a find. If you don't, I would be willing to do it for a little cash. It might take some time for it to get every last one, in fact, for all I know it may never actually catch up. What would be the point you ask? Exactly. Quote Link to comment
+tozainamboku Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 If you have the skills, I urge you to write a script that will log *every* cache as a find. If you don't, I would be willing to do it for a little cash. It might take some time for it to get every last one, in fact, for all I know it may never actually catch up. What would be the point you ask? Exactly. Running such a script would be in violation of the Terms of Use. Groundspeak may not care if you log your own caches but You agree that you will not use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access the Site for any purpose Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 (Logging a DNF is no big deal.) Having to look for your cache and then place it back in the right spot is maintenance and there is an attribute now available for that type of log. Quote Link to comment
+Hiking Cockroachess Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Bangeo had three geocaches in Geneseo, NY prior to his move to PA. I had hunted two of them, only to be the one to discover that the final was missing. Both of the multi's were nicely set up, using historic markers, and in spite of the DNF, I enjoyed them. Rather than see Bangeo archive them upon his move, I offered to adopt them. It is my personal opinion that to log a find on these caches AT THIS POINT would be low, violating the spirit of geocaching. If I had found them PRIOR to owning them, that would be okay, but now that I own them, I will never log them as a find. As for hunting for your own cache to check on it, that's known as maintenance. It's like having a kid; you have to feed it, help it blow it's nose, and all the other stuff. Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 (edited) As for hunting for your own cache to check on it, that's known as maintenance. Yep. It's like having a kid; you have to feed it, help it blow it's nose, and all the other stuff. You are correct amigo, that is the best part of life. edited Edited July 1, 2006 by BlueDeuce Quote Link to comment
+Colorado Cacher Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Only if your hardup, and desperate for 1 point. Man, you'd really have to be hardup for that! Quote Link to comment
Pluckers Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 (edited) Running such a script would be in violation of the Terms of Use. Groundspeak may not care if you log your own caches but You agree that you will not use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access the Site for any purpose I know I shouldn't ever try to be funny, or be ridulously extreme just to make a point, as there is always someone who actually takes me seriously. The least I should do is remember to add the smilies :laughing: In fact, I just mentioned this in another thread http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...opic=136626&hl= All my fault tozain, and thanks for pointing out the terms. Many people don't ever click and read things like that, in the name of instant gratification, and they should. Let the record should that I would never, ever use any automated means to mine the data here, especially for cash. :| tozain, is that the correct "serious" face to use? I know there are some standards somewhere, and I should go find them and read them. Edited July 1, 2006 by Pluckers Quote Link to comment
wandering360 Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 I know there are no formal rules in geocaching and we all play our own game, but is there etiquette around claiming your own caches as finds? I placed one cache that I have never marked found, and have another I adopted, but found it when another cacher owned it. What do you think? Do you claim finds on your own caches? [/q There is a multi cache in my area that when you find the final cache you move it to a new spot and log the new numbers at the 1st cache for the next cacher to find. after the final has been logged (moved) 10 times you can log the cache again. The owner of the cache can log it also because the final cache is being moved to new locations and he doesn't know where it is until he finds it. Quote Link to comment
Guyute1210 Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 There is a multi cache in my area that when you find the final cache you move it to a new spot and log the new numbers at the 1st cache for the next cacher to find. after the final has been logged (moved) 10 times you can log the cache again. The owner of the cache can log it also because the final cache is being moved to new locations and he doesn't know where it is until he finds it. GC# on that one? Quote Link to comment
+Miragee Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 I know there are no formal rules in geocaching and we all play our own game, but is there etiquette around claiming your own caches as finds? I placed one cache that I have never marked found, and have another I adopted, but found it when another cacher owned it. What do you think? Do you claim finds on your own caches? There is a multi cache in my area that when you find the final cache you move it to a new spot and log the new numbers at the 1st cache for the next cacher to find. after the final has been logged (moved) 10 times you can log the cache again. The owner of the cache can log it also because the final cache is being moved to new locations and he doesn't know where it is until he finds it. Hmmm. Sounds interesting . . . and it is also against the guidelines . . . unless it is a Grandfathered Moving cache. What is to prevent that cache container from being placed either too close to another cache (Proximity Problem) or in an area where caches are prohibited. Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 (edited) I wouldn't on one of my caches, but I did on an event I co-hosted. (Actually, it wasn't a find it was an "Attended") I figured what the heck, I did attend, so I logged it as such. (Only once though!) I think it's OK to say that you "attended" your own event. However, I would never go find my own cache that is retarded. Like others have mentioned I also have some caches that I found and then later adopted. That is OK too! Edited July 1, 2006 by TrailGators Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 (edited) I know there are no formal rules in geocaching and we all play our own game, but is there etiquette around claiming your own caches as finds? I placed one cache that I have never marked found, and have another I adopted, but found it when another cacher owned it. What do you think? Do you claim finds on your own caches? There is a multi cache in my area that when you find the final cache you move it to a new spot and log the new numbers at the 1st cache for the next cacher to find. after the final has been logged (moved) 10 times you can log the cache again. The owner of the cache can log it also because the final cache is being moved to new locations and he doesn't know where it is until he finds it. Hmmm. Sounds interesting . . . and it is also against the guidelines . . . unless it is a Grandfathered Moving cache. What is to prevent that cache container from being placed either too close to another cache (Proximity Problem) or in an area where caches are prohibited. Even if it was a rare grandfathered Traveling Cache why would you want to log it again and again? I really wish they would plug that hole in the system once and for all! Edited July 1, 2006 by TrailGators Quote Link to comment
wandering360 Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 There is a multi cache in my area that when you find the final cache you move it to a new spot and log the new numbers at the 1st cache for the next cacher to find. after the final has been logged (moved) 10 times you can log the cache again. The owner of the cache can log it also because the final cache is being moved to new locations and he doesn't know where it is until he finds it. GC# on that one? GC1DOF Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 (edited) There is a multi cache in my area that when you find the final cache you move it to a new spot and log the new numbers at the 1st cache for the next cacher to find. after the final has been logged (moved) 10 times you can log the cache again. The owner of the cache can log it also because the final cache is being moved to new locations and he doesn't know where it is until he finds it. GC# on that one? GC1DOF It's a rare grandfathered traveling cache! But it is anchored by another cache. So I guess we won't be seeing that one out here... Edited July 1, 2006 by TrailGators Quote Link to comment
+humanloofa Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Some friends of mine and I helped some new cachers place a cache, then my friends claimed the FTF find. Pretty lame, huh? I looked at that one, the find may be valid if his wife found it but did not help place it, and they log them under the same name. Still looks kinda funny. Quote Link to comment
+thedeadpirate Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 I feel much better now! Quote Link to comment
+Team Cotati Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 I wouldn't do it. But if I had a hankering for something sweet and a baby was near and if that baby had a piece of candy in his clutches..............I'd take it and eat it. Quote Link to comment
+Roamingbull Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 (edited) The game is for fun. That is the bottom line really. We have our guidelines but as we are not actually competing for something we do have the latitude to make our own rules of conduct so long as they fit within the overall guidelines and the law. So long as your not cheating yourself then do what you feel is right. Others may not agree, but they can play their own game. I logged a cache of my own as a find. Not because of "numbers" or anything else. The story that went with how I found it and where was just too cool not too in my opinion. I had too much fun with it to not log it and I enjoyed doing it. Our area experienced some flooding. One of my caches which I had intended to move before the river rose got washed out early. I had actually disabled it and was going to check on it as soon as the water receded. Before that occurred I got a found it log from a local cacher. He found it still intact, but wet and about 40 feet from where I had hidden it. I kept it disabled and was going to go out and fix it. I was not able to get it before we got several days of more rain and more floods. This time the river rose over the banks, closed roads, flooded houses, and caused all sorts of ruckus. The cache I was sure was gone for good. I archived it. a couple months later I was out on the river about a quarter mile down river from the archived cache location. As I was tooling along the river side, I saw a green lid sticking up out of the sand. On closer inspection I found my cache (a rubbermaid container with a snap lid) still intact but very water logged. Nearby was a log full of fishing lours and other cool stuff. I had a blast retrieving them. The log was actually still readable. I logged it as a find and Ill stand by it. Edited July 7, 2006 by Roamingbull Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Even if it was a rare grandfathered Traveling Cache why would you want to log it again and again? I really wish they would plug that hole in the system once and for all! Because an ammo box moved to a new location is a new cache experience. Once it has been moved it makes no difference who has found (or placed) it previously. It is a new cache experience. Quote Link to comment
+Lighteye Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 The Mr. half of the team hid one with another local cacher some months ago. The Mrs. half went on a hike, and hunted for it until she found it all by herself, but I didn't/wouldn't log it as a find. Quote Link to comment
+Mudfrog Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 The Mr. half of the team hid one with another local cacher some months ago. The Mrs. half went on a hike, and hunted for it until she found it all by herself, but I didn't/wouldn't log it as a find. My wife loves to cache as much as i do but she has never wanted to set up her own account. She just likes the hunt and has gone out and found alot of caches that i have already found. Has she logged any of them as finds on my account? Nope,,, If she ever wants to log em then she needs to set up her own account. QUOTE(TrailGators @ Jul 1 2006, 01:16 PM) Even if it was a rare grandfathered Traveling Cache why would you want to log it again and again? I really wish they would plug that hole in the system once and for all! I don't quite understand that one either but i suppose it's an ok thing to do with this type of cache. a couple months later I was out on the river about a quarter mile down river from the archived cache location. As I was tooling along the river side, I saw a green lid sticking up out of the sand. On closer inspection I found my cache (a rubbermaid container with a snap lid) still intact but very water logged. Nearby was a log full of fishing lours and other cool stuff. I had a blast retrieving them. The log was actually still readable. I logged it as a find and Ill stand by it. Why not a log note? The note would record the history and keep your numbers straight too! Quote Link to comment
+BomberJjr Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 If I placed it, I don't claim it as found. If I found it before I adopted it, I would keep the claim. You have to actually find it. Quote Link to comment
+The GeoGadgets Team Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 <snip>As for hunting for your own cache to check on it, that's known as maintenance. It's like having a kid; you have to feed it, help it blow it's nose, and all the other stuff. </snip> Hey, I know parents who consider that babysitting... But one of our caches placed some years ago, I cannot find. It needs maintenance, and one cacher moved it, but 'doesn't remember where to'. The funny thing is, other people keep finding it! I've posted in the log that the next person to find it please move it to such-and-such cache (one I for sure know how to find), but nobody reads the logs anymore until they go to post. So, here is my 'lost' cache being found... by everyone but me. Back on topic, though... What about a husband and wife who ALWAYS cache together, he hides a cache, she logs it FTF as soon as it goes live, and then she hides a cache and he does the same. Go to the cache and nobody has yet signed the logbook. A father/son team in the same area do that all the time, too. And these people introduced each other to caching... I see an ugly trend occuring. I have invited them to our annual Event in hopes that they will recognize this for the cheating it is and cease. But really, what should I care? I mean, besides the fact that I'm an FTFW? Especially since we're switching coasts, it really isn't my problem, right? RIGHT?!? RedwoodRed (aw, who am I kidding... I'll just go play NWN online and kill something) Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.