DNF

[ZouLou]

I got my first did not find today. I know everyone gets them but it was so hard to tear myself away from the cache site. It was especially disheartening when i went to the page and bunch of people said howeasy it was once u found it haha. It is hiden somewhere around this darn sun deck but i looked on top, underneith, and all around with no sign of it. Anyone else want to share their firrst DNF story.

[+Kiwi Nomad]

My first hunt ended in a dnf.

Have since found it and I was hunting in the correct place just not well enough.

Did not feel too bad (yes dissapointed) about it as did not have a gps so was a 'if only...' situation. Also as I found my next 7 with out any problems or gps I made the first dnf easier to except.

[+Sioneva]

My first DNF was on a lightpole cache. Talk about depressing. I have to whack myself in the head with a rubber mallet every time I think about it.

 

... which probably explains a lot of my general weirdness.

[+wayfarer222]

I hear you! We logged a DNF recently that frankly was not what the cache description led us to believe. Equally depressing was reading subsequent posts of others actually finding the darn thing. My consolation was that in those later posts others complained of the amount of bushwhacking, so maybe we weren't too far off course.

 

Chris

[+scavok]

It makes the finding of that cache that much better:)

 

And ya know what, I don't even remember my first DNF anymore...

[ZouLou]

Yea i am not realy upset about it. It was my first after 15 caches, so i am happy with that. I just hated leaving when i knew i was right on top of it.

[+briansnat]

Well the best way to share mine is to link to the log. It was the first of nearly 140 (and counting).

[+simpjkee]

I"ve dnf'd quite a few. I'm tired of "well camo'd" micros being thrown in to random bushes surrounded by other identical bushes. And then the placer adds "the satellite signal jumps around a bit". Oh brother. Sorry, but I've got better things to do than to stick my head in a bush for an hour and a half.

[Ghengis Jon]

My first crack at geocaching was a DNF. Confirmed as muggled by the cache owner, but a DNF nonetheless. But I'm good with DNFs. Its part of the game, it provides a list of caches to re-attempt. It also shows the integrity of cachers. What do you think of the cacher that proclaims "I've found a thousand caches and don't have a single DNF!" ?

[+imajeep]

I'm another newbie, and it drives me nuts, too. "An easy grab!" "A quick find." And my wife and I spend half an hour scratching our heads.

 

I figure it's all part of learning the game. If it came too easy, we'd probably get bored and drop out pretty quickly. Of course, that doesn't help much when we've got five micros on our list and we can't find any of them! So it goes...

[+Mr. 0]

The first cache I DNFed wasn't there at all. It was placed in some satellite dishes between a business and an apartment complex. The business either moved out, or didn't need the dishes since they were removed, taking the cache with it.

 

Dead Sat Cache

 

My first real DNF, where the cache was there, but I just couldn't find it was later the same day...

 

No Trees Passing

 

I spent way too much time searching for this one. I don't remember how long it was, but probably well over an hour. When I later found it, my GPS took me right to it. For whatever reason the day I DNFed it the GPS was zeroing out in about 5 different spots, all anywhere from 50-200 feet away.

 

That same day I also DNFed another cache, which turned out to be missing...

 

Thorny Reservoir Find

 

So in all it was a disappointing day, but I did manage to find 6 caches as well. I had found 9 prior to my DNFs and done plenty of reading here before I started, so I knew it was part of the game. It was still tough to swallow my first DNF though.

[+Driver Carries Cache]

My first DNF... on my very first day of caching (funny, there's two new DNF's from some very experienced cachers with thousands of finds! ) and it's only a 1.5-star difficulty. It's a micro, but it ain't no film canister and hey, it was our first day, we didn't know there was stuff that tiny out there. Finally found it on my third attempt... 5 months later.

 

The cache that's my current nemesis (and closest to my home coords, so it stares me in the face constantly) was my first attempt at a FTF. I still haven't found it, three attempts and a number of months later it still mocks me .

 

Oh, it will be mine!

 

I've always found that finally bagging a cache you DNF'ed previously is especially sweet . Don't they say that "good living is the best revenge"? Don't go away disappointed, revel in the challenge... return and conquer!

 

DCC

[+Miragee]

On one of my first days of caching, I DNF'd four caches, all placed by the same people, who were great at using techniques I didn't know about -- like fencepost caps that lift up and styrofoam rocks that looked just like all the other rocks. They were kind to send me pictures of the caches in their hiding places.

 

Another time I had six DNFs on a two-mile long trail where ten new caches had been placed. I didn't know what a Decon container was, or how it could be hidden, and the cache owners did not give any hints . . . Just two weeks ago I went three for three, DNFs that is. So far, I have logged 243 DNFs . . . and I even think I missed logging a few along the way . . .

 

So, don't worry about them. I know how hard it is to leave a location if you haven't found the cache, but there is no shame in a DNF. Some cache owners seem to like getting DNFs in their InBox. They know their cleverly-cammoed cache is doing its job.

[+Belfrypotters]

It wasn't our first dnf, but definitely our most embarrassing. It was a type of cache known (to everyone but us, apparently) as a "liar's cache". We knew the cache had been placed for an event, with a prize for the best tall tale, but we assumed that meant in the logs. It never occurred to us that the cache description, every last detail except the coordinates, was also a lie. So we were hunting for a 4/4 cache obscurely hidden in a deep pit surrounded by barbed wire, and we even followed the recommended bushwhack directions to get there. We actually stood within inches of the large eye-level but well-camoed container, but were too busy looking for a deep hole in the ground to see it. After I posted the dnf the owner took pity on us (between snickers!) and sent an email explaining the obvious. This cache is on quite a few peoples' watchlists, too, so I guess we provided much amusement to many .

[+Driver Carries Cache]

My first DNF... on my very first day of caching (funny, there's two new DNF's from some very experienced cachers with thousands of finds! ) and it's only a 1.5-star difficulty. It's a micro, but it ain't no film canister and hey, it was our first day, we didn't know there was stuff that tiny out there. Finally found it on my third attempt... 5 months later.

 

The cache that's my current nemesis (and closest to my home coords, so it stares me in the face constantly) was my first attempt at a FTF. I still haven't found it, three attempts and a number of months later it still mocks me .

 

Oh, it will be mine!

 

I've always found that finally bagging a cache you DNF'ed previously is especially sweet . Don't they say that "good living is the best revenge"? Don't go away disappointed, revel in the challenge... return and conquer!

 

DCC

 

Yep, quoting my own post... why? Because it motivated me to return to my nemesis, the DNF I posted about above AND I FOUND IT!

 

Too bad there's no "dancing" emoticons because that's what I did... the "I finally found it" dance!

 

Thanks for the motivation... now go back and find that DNF!

 

Driver Carries Cache

[+RockyRaab]

I hear ya about the one being nearest to your home coords being a constant thorn because you've DNF'ed it.

 

Mine is/was only 0.6 mile from my house. Went out confidently the first time, knowing in my heart (from the description) that it'd probably be one of those nano-size magnetic bumps just slightly larger than an aspirin. Except that I couldn't find it. Hmmm...

 

Three other DNF-logging cachers later, the owner posts a "guess it disappeared" log and replaced the container. So I looked again - and AGAIN couldn't find it. Mumble, mumble, grumble...

 

Months go by with a long string of DNFs and no finds. FINALLY the owner posts, "Well, it's gone again, guess I'll quit trying and archive it."

 

I won't post the cache ID here because I've sort of badmouthed its owner. But I'm delighted that the dadblame thing no longer shows up at the very top of my weekly pocket query!

[+PlantAKiss]

My first DNF...In my newbness, I unwittingly went for what was a difficult micro hide. Lots of DNFs logged on it. But it was close to my house so I tried it. I didn't know how to use my new GPS properly and I wandered all over a ball field nowhere close to the cache. I finally gave up. Not wanting to be defeated, I soon returned again, and again wandered ignorantly around the baseball field. I didn't come back to this one for a while and in the intervening time I learned how to use my GPSr correctly and was having success. When I finally came back to this one, determined to find it, it only took about 5 minutes of searching (THIS time I was in the right place!). I starting laughing when I saw where it was. Let me tell you, that find was sweet! It was a VERY clever hide, I was impressed and its still one of my favorite cache finds.

 

Just this week, amazingly, I got my first "FTF"! I never thought it would happen. *happy dance*