Anyone get depressed by certain DNF's?

[+Kabuthunk]

Just a random thought, which will more than likely apply moreso to newbies like myself than experienced types.

 

With my geocaching, there's several DNF's in which (if I'm not mistaken), I'm the single only person to have ever DNF a cache. Anyone else ever feel kinda... crappy after seeing that with themselves? Especially after searching for like... an hour? ESPECIALLY after the rest of the logs for said cache are like "man, that was pretty easy" or "really good for beginners" and the like.

 

Although, I get the feeling that a number of those were probably just edited from a DNF to a Found after the fact... but the point remains that you're the only 'frowny face' on the cache page

Edited August 18, 2006 by Kabuthunk

[+StarBrand]

yes it happened.

 

 

After about the 20th cache I logged that way - I got over it.

[+Harry Dolphin]

One of my theories of life is: Oh, well.

We did a series of rest stop caches on the Mass Pike on the way home from visiting my sister in Maine. We found three of four (one of which seems to have required lying on one's back on the lawn, next to an outbuilding of some sort.) We did not find the magnetic micro in the guard rail, believe it or not!

Oh, well

If it were local, we would have returned to look for it. But, it's not, so I shan't. Oh, well. Not going to lose any sleep over it.

[+El Diablo]

I'm guessing that anyone who caches on a regular basis has had a DNF. Don't assume that just because no one else posted a DNF that you are the only one. Alot of people would rather cut off a finger rather than admit a DNF. These people miss the entire reason for logging it as a DNF.

 

I had one I posted a couple of weks ago. I was the 3rd to log a DNF. The owner went to check on it, and sure enough it was missing.

 

El Diablo

[+Harry Dolphin]

Oh, I've only logged 109 DNFs! 32 of them have been archived. I'm not too proud to admit that sometimes I miss the obvious. And sometimes, several times! Oh, well!

[+geognerd]

Don't worry about being the only person to log a DNF at a cache. It shows you're human and that your smiley count is probably honest. I've been the first person to log a DNF at several caches, and some have been out for a while. I think it's an honor to be the first to log a DNF.

[+Team Neos]

And sometimes it is just you, or at least, sometimes it is just me.

 

There was one in a park that I know like the back of my hand. It was new, no one had found it yet, we were going caching that day anyway and had to pass it, so we stopped to grab the FTF on a nice little 1/1 on our way to greater adventures. We looked for it, and looked for it, and looked some more until we got frustrated. We finally left for our planned day, shaking our heads and wondering what in the world was wrong with us/the GPS units/the cache.

 

Someone else posted the FTF the same day. It was the first cache they had ever looked for. They said it was easy. Huh?

 

We went back a couple of weeks later, and looked everywhere for it. We must have spent an hour looking for it. We looked up in the rafters and down under the stoops. We searched every crack we could find, every stump, every hollow place in a tree, every nailhead on the picnic tables. We had to go away and post another DNF.

 

The cache owner--a friend who has cached with us before and knows we aren't stupid --emailed to say he was amazed that we couldn't find it. He said it wasn't supposed to be hard, or tricky, or sneaky. Hmmmm.

 

We went back ...one... more... time...and found it in thirty seconds. It was an easy find.

Edited August 19, 2006 by Team Neos

[+TamaraWilliams]

Sometimes it is difficult to admit that you couldn't find a cache - especially when the logs show that it is Definitely THERE! One time I was looking for a cache and another caching couple came and left without finding the cache......they told me they were late for an engagement 2 hours away...........never did see their DNF on the logs............so DNF's are NOT alone even if they are the only DNF's listed on the logs.

 

[Mr.Yuck]

 

Alot of people would rather cut off a finger rather than admit a DNF. These people miss the entire reason for logging it as a DNF.

 

 

This is a true statement. I like to call these people "closet DNF'ers". And I always go out of my way to call them out in cache logs for comedic purposes. Like the cache a couple of weeks ago, placed by a relative newbie whose coords turned out to be 50 feet off or so. When I got there several hours after publishing, the area around the false ground zero was well trampled, and I was the only one to log a DNF that day. Ended up with a rare FTF the next day.

[+Beffums]

As the others have said, you are not alone. There have been a few days when I walked right up to the 4* and 5* difficulty caches, but could not find a 1/1 for the life of me. Around here, we're some of the unusual cachers who log their DNF's (I'm not saying I've never missed a DNF log, then again who knows, we might have missed a found it log too!). Not the only ones, but definitely in the minority. You'll find that many claim they will only log a DNF if they are 100% positive the cache is missing. Just keep in mind that that is not what a DNF means. A DNF means that you did not find the cache.

 

Some of my DNF's read "it started pouring 5 minutes after we got to the coords, so we'll have to come back" some read "we searched for over an hour and failed to find it". It just depends on the day. Times when I won't log a DNF is if we never even got out of the car. If the reason we didn't get out of the car is irrelevant for the cache (ex., realized we were going to be late for something), then I won't always log it. If it had to do with the cache (ex., place was totally full of muggles) then I generally will.

 

Don't let it get you down. I've watched a complete newbie walk right up to a 4* hide and find it in 30 seconds, and I've watched cachers with 100+ finds have problems with similar hides. Sometimes it' all a matter of what you are expecting. If you are unbiased (the newbie), sometimes that helps - you can think outside of the box, since you don't even know what the box is like yet. Othertimes, experience helps.

[Hillbilly-Rockstar]

you better beleive I do! I really hate it when the owner (yes it's happend) pokes fun of me, and snickers when I can't find it. It's only happend once though, thank gawd. I couldn't find it, so I asked for a little extra hint for my _3rd_ time out. And he just says "Nope, if u cant find it thats ur problem lol". And I'm not a big fan of lol, u, idk, ur, etc...even though I'm 13 and on AIM right now. My friends are always like "ERIC! TYPE Lyke ur on aim".

 

Back on topic.

 

So yes, I do. And if I could find the email I would post it.

[+Derb522002]

I put in my DNF's. I had one that I went back four times to find. I was at an event and asked one the cachers were it was. My hubby said do you want him to tell you exactly were it is and I said Yes. I went back and it took another hour to find it but I did. I had posted 3 DNF.

 

I post DNF because if it is not there at least the owner may go out and check it. I have also posted DNF and it was missing. Other times the coordinates were wrong and the owner went out and fixed them. I have a cache that I put out and a cacher that is very experienced could not find it. I checked on it and it was there. I check my caches when someone said they can not find it. If they need help I will give a hint and not make fun of anyone because I know what it feels like not to find the cache. But it is all part of the game and that is what makes it fun.

 

I go through my DNF and try to find them later on.

[bogleman]

I call them "Homer moments". I just checked and I can proudly say that I have reached 63 documented DNF's, no I don't get depressed I get even.

[+The Laughing Gnomes]

We normally dont log a DNF if we dont find it on our first visit, IF there are extenuating circumstances. Like....it was to dark and no flashlight, it started raining when pulled up, there was a policemans picnic going on 75 ft from ground zero (this happened 2 days ago), didnt bring appropriate clothing for the terrain, etc.

The reason we dont log DNF in these cases is that we didnt actually get a chance to LOOK.

 

But we always try and go back to those places when we can to actually complete. We currently have 2 traditionals and 2 multis (completed up to the last stage) that are in limbo waiting for us to get back to them.

 

We also go back and update our DNFs and notes once we have actually found it to help clean up our trail of ramblings...

 

The Laughing Gnomes

[+badlands]

The most I've logged is 8 DNF's in one day.

 

Logging the DNF gives me a record of what I did that day, and hopefully the cache owner gets a chuckle out of knowing that someone looked for the cache but was totally blind that day.

 

Log them, don't delete them, keep the history of the cache intact. Often the DNF's are the most fun to read.

[+badlands]

Oh yeah.....I log ALL my DNF'ds.

[+Bear Paughs]

There was one cache that haunted us that we DNF'd about 8 or 9 times. All the found logs said it was an easy find. The last straw was when someone said their two year old found the cache before they even started looking. After that I was bound and determined to get the cache no matter what. It still took 2 more visits before we did find it.

[+hukilaulau]

It seems like I am frequently the only one who can't find a new cache here in my local area

The only one i ever would have felt bad about though was i I had dnf'd this one. Over 500 logged visits and not single dnf. Fortunately, it really was an easy find.

[+budd-rdc]

Everyone has a different degree of mental blindness, so it's normal to have DNFs, even if you are the only person. Might be embarassing but definitely not something to get depressed about.

 

We have a chronic DNF'er in my area. He hates it every time, but he still logs them, and he takes his reputation in stride (He even DNF'd an event because he showed up on the wrong day ).

 

Despite that, he seems to find difficult caches that are properly rated, so I'm pretty sure he isn't just goofing off or doing DNFs for the sake of publicity.

[+Kabuthunk]

Well, I've now logged two consecutive DNF's on a single cache that hasn't been dnf'd before... several days apart from eachother. Although, as people here have said... I'm fairly certain most of those were either 'edit their old log to change it to a 'found', or 'not log it until they find it' type of thing. Some of the logs say that they had to try several times, but no DNF logs were in there. Pfft, stat-freaks. At least MY stats are accurate

With that one, I'm now either waiting until I get a GPS so I can narrow it down to less than like... 100 meters square or so that I wandered (and that's probably still wrong anyway ), or someone else finds it to at least prove that it's still there. And even then, I might just wait until I get the GPS. A few people tried to toss me a hint, but it was essentially what I was doing anyway. Eh, maybe they'll check it out and toss me another hint after seeing dnf #2

 

Blast you, Tiki Hut... you WILL be mine eventually!

Edited August 19, 2006 by Kabuthunk

[+IGJoe]

For me it seems like I get blindspot on some caches. When that happens you could dangle the cache from a string and not only would I not see it but I'd probably push it out of my way while looking in the wrong direction. I can go there multiple times and look and look but not find it. Then when I finally do I think 'Holy Cow! How did I miss that 3 times!'. All the while people are finding it between my attempts and saying similar things like 'easy find'. I even had one cache that it took me 3 attempts to locate when another guy found it on his 1st try without his GPS, he just zoomed in using Googlemaps.

 

Fortunately I've noticed other people get a similar blindspot so I know its not just me. Don't sweat your DNF's, they'll actually become some of your most memorable hunts.

[dunderhead]

I LOVE my DNF's give me chance to go again.

[+AuntieWeasel]

I have about a 10% DNF rate. And, yes, very often my frowny is the only one on the page.

 

My hardest cache ever was a 1/1. And it really was a 1/1. I just couldn't find the dadblasted thing. Took me three or four trips (though I think I logged all the failures in a single DNF, I did 'fess up to them). It was, like, my 20th find. I'd been have an excellent run up to then, but that really shook my confidence. I sat on a rock and thought about quitting.

 

And, yes, people were logging things like, "my very first find, AND I WALKED RIGHT TO IT!!!"

 

Sometimes, I go back and find them right away. Usually, though, whatever mistakes I made the first time, I continue to make on subsequent trips. I hate trying to clear DNFs.

[b1rdbrain]

only one DNF ever made me not sleep and thats at this little park in Tarzana, CA and i sware it walked off only to find out that some one had found it. i went to this place 5 times and came up empty only to have brought others with me to look for it and still nothing. some one found it today and i was sure it was muggled. how can 3 people looking for 3 days not find it. I really thought it was gone but it was found today. i have lost sleep over this hide. now i'm going to go over there to look again and if i can't find it i'm going to explode inside and be crushed for ever. i will be placed in the loony toons wing of Northridge med. center.

[dunderhead]

only one DNF ever made me not sleep and thats at this little park in Tarzana, CA and i sware it walked off only to find out that some one had found it. i went to this place 5 times and came up empty only to have brought others with me to look for it and still nothing. some one found it today and i was sure it was muggled. how can 3 people looking for 3 days not find it. I really thought it was gone but it was found today. i have lost sleep over this hide. now i'm going to go over there to look again and if i can't find it i'm going to explode inside and be crushed for ever. i will be placed in the loony toons wing of Northridge med. center.

 

Is it possible they didn't find it and are jerking your chain?

[+the hermit crabs]

Depressed? No. Stupid? Certainly. Those are the cases where it helps to embrace despair.com's philosophy on ineptitude:

 

 

There was one in particular where I was the only DNF -- it was a multi, and you had to walk around the center of town collecting various bits of information to generate the final coords. It was intended to be interesting, not difficult. I found all of the stages, but had a bit of a counting problem at one of them... I had more than the requisite number of fingers to assist in the simple computation, and yet still somehow I ended up with "two" instead of "three". Embarrassing, yes, but not depressing. (links to DNF log and subsequent Found-it log)

 

There are some cache sites where we aren't too happy whether we find the cache or not -- they're just unpleasant places. And there are some sites where we're still happy to have visited even if we do end up with a DNF, like this one (one of my favorite DNFs ever, even though it's an easy one with very few DNFs on the page), and this one (mostly because it was fun writing about our poor decision-making).

 

(edited for typos...)

Edited August 20, 2006 by the hermit crabs

[+fm2f90x]

I just posted a DNF on a reststop cache. I'm the second of 108 cachers who has been honest enough to log it as such, and I mentioned just that in the log. People just don't get it. If they don't post DNFs, a cache owner will never know if their cache has gone missing.

 

L8R

[+ventura_kids]

This may help.

We have over 9000 finds.

 

We log our DNF's (many cachers don't).

 

A couple of times, we've struggled at a cache, and just could not find it, so we logged a DNF.

Soon after, a newbie will find that cache easily.

 

It happens!

 

I know of a couple of caches that we've DNF'd 3 or 4 times, and everyone else just finds them.

Amazing!

 

It still upsets me.

[+Kabuthunk]

Yep, up to 3 for me so far on that one. It's definitely frustrating. Well, this one's now either waiting until I get a GPS system, or go with one or several other geocachers in a group... since I seem to be blind as a bat for this one

[+Outspoken1]

Since I am such a newbie, I presume that I am missing the cache (since I am starting with only 1's and 1.5's) the first time I DNF or if there are too many muggles. I also check the last time the cache was found. If it is very recent, I presume I am just not finding it. I respect the learning curve!

[+Repton Rompers]

Hey this is my first time using Groundspeak forum and i could not resist adding a reply. I placed a cache at the end of my road, I drive past every day whilst going here and there and Ive seen several people poking round recently. Not one has logged the cache as DNF. I have looked at other cache logs on line and people often mention that "on the 5th attempt they found it" etc. yet they do not shown DNF's. My DNF equal my TFTC.

Lifes funny, so are people :-)

[b1rdbrain]

Is it possible they didn't find it and are jerking your chain?

Nope i found it today. i paid off another cacher to give me a better clue.

[+Big Max]

That reminds me, I need to go post a DNF.

[ImpalaBob]

Hint: In the base of a tree with a fallen branch.

 

We looked at every base of every tree ..... DNF.

 

Reality: About 6 feet up in a tree 35 feet off of posted coordinates.

 

I swear I would have found it if I had not read the hint. ImpalaBob

[+Trucker Lee]

I have decided to post all DNFs I encounter. It is a way to tell the cache owner "way to go, got me this time".

Repeated DNFs would be an indictor to the owner that he/she may need to go by there soon.

 

I have every intention of going back. Perhaps it wasn't there and got replaced, perhaps the light will be different, perhaps I will be just looking differently at things.

 

The cache waiting to be found was the challenge. Logging a DNF was losing the first round. I'll be back!!!

[+GreyingJay]

Ah, DNF's.

 

I post if I gave it a good shot. If I just did a casual search but didn't really know what I was doing (maybe I didn't have the GPS but thought I knew roughly where it was, or maybe I only had 2 minutes to look) then I won't bother with a DNF log. But if I gave it a real go, had all the info with me, and searched but gave up, then I will DNF.

 

And yes, I hate it when I can't find a cache and everyone else seems to think it's easy. Here is a picture of a family that I bumped into one day while doing a cache during a weekend event. I had spent 30-45 minutes examining everything in the nearby area. Their little girl (she looks about 6 or 7) found it in 2 minutes.

 

Then there was the time we looked up and down and all around for 40 minutes looking for a bison tube in the woods by the side of a road, and Scouter Jim got dropped off at the curb, bounded down and found it in 30 seconds flat.

 

Ouch.

[+Zilvervloot]

There is an annoying cache in my neighborhood. This cache is meant for children. I have been there several times, in different weather conditions and I still have not found it.

In the posted logs there are lines like “This was a simple one” and “my kid of four years old found it easily”

I consider myself as a reasonable cacher, I have very good eyesight, I have a degree and a job where I am persistently challenged to “think out of the box”; but this cache is too difficult for me.

I guess the only way to find this one is to “borrow” a child for a cache hunt. I have some nephews & nieces who might enjoy being a tracker dog.

 

The worst thing is, I do not dare to post a DNF-log. I know the cache is there somewhere, posting a DNF-log would only display my stupidity.

 

Zilvervloot.

[+Team Dromomania]

Once or twice a month I seem to miss a 1/1 cache. I can usually grab it on my next round through the area and it is usually very easy. I still don't understand how I could have missed them the first time. And yes, I usually log my DNF's for my own personal records. Only once did a owner complain that I was logging too many DNF's. I logged one more DNF and then finally made the find.

 

BUT, what I hate is when I meet up with other geocachers and the conversation turns to, "How many finds do you have?" I was on my third or fourth attempt at a hard cache when I met two caching groups. One has about 14 finds, the other has about 50 finds and then they ask me. I tell them a round figure and they all say, "Wow, we have an expert to watch!" Of course, it's the 14 finds cacher who comes up with the find!

[+cachenut06]

Once or twice a month I seem to miss a 1/1 cache. I can usually grab it on my next round through the area and it is usually very easy. I still don't understand how I could have missed them the first time. And yes, I usually log my DNF's for my own personal records. Only once did a owner complain that I was logging too many DNF's. I logged one more DNF and then finally made the find.

 

BUT, what I hate is when I meet up with other geocachers and the conversation turns to, "How many finds do you have?" I was on my third or fourth attempt at a hard cache when I met two caching groups. One has about 14 finds, the other has about 50 finds and then they ask me. I tell them a round figure and they all say, "Wow, we have an expert to watch!" Of course, it's the 14 finds cacher who comes up with the find!

 

I havent had any trouble with single caches, multi caches, i seem to have a boatload of problems with. Especially the trivia ones. I had to get help from the cache owner for one multicache, and i found one 2 part by myself, but i couldnt find any part of 4 multicaches i went to. It isnt a big deal to me if i get a dnf. Yes, i feel really happy if i do find it, but i can always go back and keep looking

[+Zilvervloot]

Just a thought…

 

When you eventually find the cache, do you make a new found-log and delete the old DNF-log? Or, do you edit the DNF-log and change it into found?

 

Zilvervloot.

[+the hermit crabs]

Just a thought…

 

When you eventually find the cache, do you make a new found-log and delete the old DNF-log? Or, do you edit the DNF-log and change it into found?

 

Zilvervloot.

Neither. I leave the old DNF log(s) there, and add a new found-it log.

[+buddles]

There is a nearby cache that I have not found six times! I don't really remember how many times I logged a DNF - at leaast three times. No one else has had any problems with this cache! Not only have I not found it, my dogs and I found a bees nest in a log and were all stung! And still I return...

[+Tharagleb]

I logged this DNF in Maine a couple of weeks ago. Mine was not the only DNF but lots of people claimed it was an easy find. You can tell from the tone of my log I was not very happy about it. The cache is rated a 1 / 1.5 and I felt like I had no clue where it was hidden. To make matters worse it was a part of a series of caches and I found lots of them, just not this one. And I will save you the trouble of looking up my stats, I have 550 finds.

[+Team Dromomania]

Just a thought…

 

When you eventually find the cache, do you make a new found-log and delete the old DNF-log? Or, do you edit the DNF-log and change it into found?

 

Zilvervloot.

 

I leave all my DNF's to keep the history of my searches. When I do finally find a cache after several DNF's I make a new find log which continues the history of my search for that cache.

[+Pegasi]

Whenever I have a pesky DNF - after 2 or 3 tries I just take my 10 year old daughter with me and she finds it.

 

I still have a couple local DNFs that I have been back to 3 or 4 times. One has had numerous DNFs from lots of experienced cachers so I don't worry about it.

[+GopherBaroque]

I have a relatively large percentage of DNFs. I attribute it to:

 

I tend to have only a little time to hunt geocaches as part of a larger event.

I'm rather new so I am still learning the thought behind the hide.

Some caches are in sensitive ecosystems so I avoid "bushwacking" the area.

Some caches are in rather open areas and I try to not attract too much attention.

 

I log each attempt as part of the "dialog" with the cache-owner, letting them know how well their cache is working. If I'm the only one to report a DNF, I would assume it is me. If there are multiple DNFs the owner has the data to suggest they change things. I do mention the conditions under which I did not find the cache.

 

One of my first caches, and a "spectacular" DNF was on Matia Island, WA. In a secluded area, I had the luxury of really snooping about, checking every possible crevase according to the hint. I even did a little rock-climbing to the point of worrying about falling off. I didn't get a reply from the cache-report and checking the area for updates this year, I see that cache has vaporized. Hmm, was it ever really there?

[+HaLiJuSaPa]

We used to feel like you, until we realized the enormous amount of immature infants out there who refuse to post a DNF. In that sense, we're now almost "proud" when we're the only DNF because at least we know we're being honest about it.

 

It's unfortunate, because DNF's are useful for the cache owner, and also to see if it's missing and not worth the trip.

 

Good luck!

[+Torgut]

Straight answer to this topic: yes, lots of times. At first I would feel really anger and frustration any time I didn't found a cache. After a while I started to rationalize and concluded those were normal feelings for the situation and somehow they went away. But I'm talking about DNF in a general way.

 

I'm not sure how would I react in a situation like you described. Probably not well. Basically because I'm aware lots of people won't log a DNF. But I wouldn't believe that NOBODY from the persons actually not finding wouldn't do that. Personally I only log DNF when I have no plans to return and try again.

[bandls33]

Well, we don't mind leaving our sad faces. We've left 3 now out of 6. Nuthin wrong with letting people know some times it's not found...just incase there's several at once it might mean it's actually gone.That'll help the "owner" know it might be gone.Keep up the chin and keep Caching!!