+Mofino Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 My wife and I are fairly new to geocaching (3 weeks and 34 finds) and had our first DNF today. Once we got to GZ we looked for over an hour last night and left when it was getting dark. We re read all the logs and gleaned some new information that we thought would be helpful for our hunt so first thing this morning we set out again. Got to GZ and spent over another 3 hours looking before we decided we didn't want to waste the whole day on a cache that may not still even be there. I'm just curious as to what is the longest time anyone ever spent looking for a cache (once you got to GZ)... I mean caching is fun and we are very tenacious but sooner or later you just gotta give up and get on with your life right? What's the longest time you ever wasted ...er...I mean spent looking for a cache? Bob Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 My wife and I are fairly new to geocaching (3 weeks and 34 finds) and had our first DNF today. Once we got to GZ we looked for over an hour last night and left when it was getting dark. We re read all the logs and gleaned some new information that we thought would be helpful for our hunt so first thing this morning we set out again. Got to GZ and spent over another 3 hours looking before we decided we didn't want to waste the whole day on a cache that may not still even be there. I'm just curious as to what is the longest time anyone ever spent looking for a cache (once you got to GZ)... I mean caching is fun and we are very tenacious but sooner or later you just gotta give up and get on with your life right? What's the longest time you ever wasted ...er...I mean spent looking for a cache? Bob Around an hour.... Link to comment
+Miragee Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Yikes . . . You certainly are tenacious . . . I think the longest time I ever spent actually looking for a cache was about an hour and a half, . . . but the total time for that DNF was 4 1/2 hours, counting the hike from the car and the hike back, which was only .5, as the crow flies . . . Now, I think my time limit is usually around 20 minutes, but it depends on the location. Today, we gave up on two caches after less than five minutes because I didn't care to spend any more time in either of those locations. Link to comment
+cbearw Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Probably about an hour just searching, After that I'll come back another day if it's within a half hours drive. If I still can't find it after the second or third trip I'll e-mail the COwner for a hint. If I had to drive an hour or more to get to the cache and couldn't find it I will sometimes ask for a hint before my second trip. Some CO's are pretty tight lipped about giving hints while others volunteer a hint very readily. If I strongly suspect the cache is missing/muggled I'll let the CO know right away. ........... Link to comment
+Red Barron Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 20 minutes max and often less. If it is there you find it if the owner buried it in a hole I'm not digging it out. Link to comment
+Snake & Rooster Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 I spent about 3 hours looking for one cache, not counting the time it took to solve the puzzle. I ending up finding it, eventually, within about 10 feet of GZ. Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 I spent about 3 hours looking for one cache, not counting the time it took to solve the puzzle. I ending up finding it, eventually, within about 10 feet of GZ. Link to comment
+badlands Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Depends on the cache. If it's a quality 4* cache, you should expect to have to hunt for at least an hour. My longest DNF streak was 13 trips on one cache. When I had to move to another city, I broke down and asked for a hint. (yeah, it was there all the time). Often, if you can't find it, come back another day and it will be an easy find. Link to comment
Mag Magician Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 In total, about 3 hours, not including travel time, after 3 visits to the site. If a cache piques your interest, and it is something that has been DNF'd before, then it is well within your reason to make the find. If it is an easy find according to logs, I have given up after 5 minutes. Link to comment
+Mofino Posted August 5, 2007 Author Share Posted August 5, 2007 What's the longest time you ever wasted ...er...I mean spent looking for a cache? Bob Thanks for the replies from everyone. It sounds like three hours in an excessive amount of time to spend at GZ for a cache according to experienced cachers who responded... This one from today has me curious but the last 5 logs in a row since early July (including mine) have been DNFs... I am beginning to doubt that the cache is even there. Should I contact the cache owner to verify that the cache was not muggled? It is not a far drive from my house but I don't want to waste my time if it's not even there. I guess after spending all that time looking although I am tired and burned out I am also obsessed with finding it... Thanks to all who responded... Bob Link to comment
+TeamBarstool Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Around an hour.... what he said. Link to comment
+Glenn Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 5 minutes tops. Unless there something there of interest. Maybe thats why I DNF a lot of micros. Link to comment
+Team Cotati Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 30 minutes. We rarely spend anywhere near that long now.....we quit PQ'ing micros a long long time ago, strangely this has lowered our search time dramatically.....odd that. ;-) Link to comment
Clan Riffster Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 So far I've spent 15 hours looking for a particularly evil urban micro. The longest time spent on one hunt was 5 hours. Link to comment
+Team Crime Scene Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 The Ghost Orchid... Four total trips of about 150 miles round trip each time, countless miles walked, one enormous amount of fuel ( around 60 gallons) to even get to the cache. Oh and we can’t forget the cheap pair of hiking boots that gave their life and sole (Literally) for this cache. Around 15 hours total in the four trips. The cache "Experience" was amazing. The friendships made along the way will last a lifetime. All for an ammo box in the swamp. Link to comment
+Miragee Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 <snip> This one from today has me curious but the last 5 logs in a row since early July (including mine) have been DNFs... <snip> I use GSAK to filter, slilce, and dice the waypoints before sending them to my GPSr. There is a built-in filter for "Last 2 DNFs." I use that, look at the details of the caches returned, and 99% of the time Delete all those waypoints from my database before sending the rest of the waypoints to my GPSr. I DNF enough caches others find "easily." I really don't think I can find a cache others have DNF'd. Link to comment
+SigsPig Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 The Camo crew & I must of spend 30 minutes circling a group of pine trees looking for a micro. I spotted "swag" on the ground & announced (prematurely) that the cache was right in this area. However, after shaking every branch & more circling, we put it up as a DNF. After checking the palm logs for this cache, we noticed that the last entry was also a DNF. Time to put into practice Miragee's filtering practice. There's enough caches out there to find that we don't need to spend time on DNF's Link to comment
+wayfarer222 Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 After about 20-30 minutes, we start to ask each other if we want to call it. I have given up sooner if I didn't like the area where the cache was at. Chris Link to comment
+jtbrady01 Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 I think it all has to do with the difficulty of the cache and distance hiked in. Couple weekends ago I went after a 3/3. Not really a difficult one however, the hike in was a couple miles. If I gave up in 20 minutes and decided to come back in a couple months it will be hunting season. Now, don't get me wrong I hunt as well and have my own supply of hunter orange gear. However, I really don't want to be in that particular area in hunting season. Bushwacking all over the place. Plus, the area is in a flood zone. So who knows when the next big rain will hit. Because of this I spent the extra time and it ended up being just under an hour for this one cache. Would I have done this for a park and grab. No. Maybe 5 minutes tops. Link to comment
+J-Way Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 (edited) The longest was about 75 minutes at one time (turns out it was missing). Longest total for multiple trips was probably about 2 hours (4 trips or varying lengths). That one was there the whole time. I've given up after less than 5 minutes when pressed for time. My search time depends on several variables: - How much time do I have? If I'm free for an extended period (VERY RARE) I'll spend much more time looking that if I'm making a quick stop between other things. In spite of how much I love Geocaching, my family and work come first. - How much do I want to find the cache? I'll spend more time looking for a regular cache than a micro, especially if a coin or TB is hidden within. Also, I'll spend more time looking for a Mystery, Multi, or Letterbox than the typical Traditional. Even longer if the cache is in a new state/county for me. - How much effort went into getting there? The cache after a 3-mile hike, or after solving a particularly hard puzzle, or after finding multiple difficult steps of a multi all get more search time than the park-n-grab. - Are there other caches nearby? I'll look longer if this is the only cache in the area. If there are five more caches within a half mile, why waste time looking for just one? - Will I be back in the area? I might look a little longer if this is my one and only chance to find it. On the other hand, I looked for one local cache on about a dozen different trips varying from 15 minutes to less than 1 minute each time. It was an urban micro, and I passed by the area on foot once or twice each week. Edited August 5, 2007 by J-Way Link to comment
+GEO.JOE Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 10 of us spent 3 hours for a DNF on It's All Greek to Me GC10N1F. We knew the cache was placed at winter pool and we were hunting in summer pool so there was at least 2.5 more feet of water so we hunted longer thinking it was just deeper??? I was still fun and a great story. When not in a group I have only hunted an hour and a half. I definitely hunt longer than my wife. On fallen giant GCHF09 she had already put her hands on her hips, standing in one spot staring at me, so I knew that last hunt was going to be it if I had not found it There have been other times that my head was down looking &thinking she was searching as well to discover that she is watching a lizard and had not been hunting or several minutes. She has about a 30 min window of serious hunting, unless I find a Black Widow (as I did last night) then she was in the truck and ready to go GEO.JOE Link to comment
+hide_from_the_kids Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 about an hour and a half with the exception of some caches we keep going back to if we are passing through an area (they are 5's). One of said caches we have visited 7 times and have spent no less then five hours looking for (actual looking, not driving or walking). Link to comment
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