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lkrus

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my question is this...... in the summer when people are out and about more how do you go about searching and retrieve a cache in a public area? right now it is real simple cause not many people out in 30deg weather..lol i was just a cache and it was in a great spot(hid in the tube of a parking sign) which instructions said to bring tools to get to it how ever i didnt need them the screw was loose but if it was in the middle of summer and there was a lot of people(this is a walking park) around how would you go about getting that out ??????? with out bringing attention to myself :rolleyes:

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Obviously I try not to give away that there's some container placed in that location but I just act like I'm supposed to be there. People usually don't think twice about someone ...just there. It's when you act like you are trying to not be noticed or acting sneaky, then people notice.

 

One of the best things to take caching in a high muggle area is a kid. Nobody is surprised about their curiosity. I took my daughter to one placed under a bell in front of city hall. No one cared that a kid would look to see what's inside/underneath it.

Edited by BlueDeuce
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I generally don't hunt these kinds of caches. I'm not in this sport to play a cloak and dagger game. The few times I do, I just walk right up the the cache and grab it. I probably attract a lot less attention that way than someone skulking around the cache peeking over his shoulder to see if anyone is looking.

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If you have children or dogs then you have it easy, as has already been mentioned, nobody thinks twice about a kid being curious and looking in all sorts of places, and people generally pay little attention to dog walkers, you can look for caches in parks/woodland and appear to be looking for your dogs ball.

 

For more urban settings I know some people put on a yellow reflective tabard and hold a clipboard to make them look official, this way they can "inspect" items of street furniture and buildings without looking suspicious.

 

One trick I use quite alot is to hold my mobile phone against my ear and wander round nodding occasionally, (don't think I'm mad just yet!) Nobody has ever looked twice at me when I look like I'm on the phone, I can walk about in the same area, kicking leaves at the bottom of trees, looking up behind signs, sitting on a bench to sneakily check under it then getting up again a minute later.

 

If anyone's within hearing distance I just say "yeah" or "ok" every few seconds to make the "phone call" sound legitimate! :D

Edited by vw_keychain
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I agree with briansnat, if they are in a hidden in an area with lots of people I just move on to the next one. I passed up a micro not too long ago at a McDonalds that had to be in some bushes not over 10 feet from the drive thru where you place your order. This was one of the busiest McDs around. What were they thinkin'?

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Just act like:

  1. You're just there doing your job (a clipboard to carry always help), and ...
  2. your job sucks, and ...
  3. you really wish you were somewhere else.

Everyone will ignore you.

 

This is similar to the witches' power of pseudo-invisibility, in His Dark Materials. You're not really invisible, but neither do you fully register as being there.

Edited by Prime Suspect
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One trick I use quite alot is to hold my mobile phone against my ear and wander round nodding occasionally, (don't think I'm mad just yet!) Nobody has ever looked twice at me when I look like I'm on the phone, I can walk about in the same area, kicking leaves at the bottom of trees, looking up behind signs, sitting on a bench to sneakily check under it then getting up again a minute later.

Ever had your phone ring while trying that?

 

Wow suprised no one had a comment on taking tools to dismantle a lamp post to get a cache inside.

Was going to mention that parking sign dismantling, but I figured someone else would.

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In general I try to avoid caches that require me to be stealthy or take apart public items.

 

When I do occasionally grab such caches, I boldly walk up to them and just do it. I act like I know what I am doing and that I belong there. Act like I am doing nothing wrong - mostly because I'm not. I get mostly ignored when I do that. Seems to attract a ton of attention if you try and look stealthy.

 

I also frequently cache with my kids - they tend to distract others from what I am doing.

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Around 60% of my finds are urban micros where there are often muggles about, but I frequently run into them in the woods as well.

 

I drive a car that attracts attention, a Durango with amatuer radio placards and five big antennas on top, it has a ham operator tag, a frog antenna ball and geocaching.com stickers and license frame, and I am an old one-legged fat man who caches on crutches.

 

Suffice it to say that stealthy I ain't!

 

Fortunately I am also a people-person who loves this game and loves to introduce others to it, so instead of avoiding people I talk to them, tell them what I am doing and invite them to hunt the cache with me!

 

Cops who stop to see what I am up to, business owners who see me outside their window, hunters and hikers I meet in the woods all have joined me on the hunt. I usually hand them my GPS, explain the basics, and let them take me to the cache!

 

At least 20 times over the years I have been asked by business or land owners what I am doing, I explain it and tell them the hider was supposed to have permission to hide it there. When they claim no permission was granted I show them the cache and ask permission to leave it there; all but one land-owner has said yes.

 

I have driven up to find that the cache is under a drain cover in a mall and a crowd of teens is sitting on and around it. I explained the game, told them I needed to look where they were sitting, and retrieved the cache! They signed it, asked lots of questions, and two of the boys seemed really interested, so I gave them magnetic keyholders I had with me and they said they would hide them with a Dad's GPS.

 

I have retreived one from a phone booth while a fellow was on the phone.

 

I arrived at one, a park bench outside a WalMart in Florida, that had two women sitting on it. I said "Excuse me, I need to get something from under where you are sitting", reached under them and got the cache!

 

Got one off a phone pole in TN behind a mall with maybe 10 kids skateboarding right near it. Showed them what we were doing and they immediately lost all interest.

 

There's one cache in Montgomery AL where bums sleep on nearby park benches. When geocachers arrive at night the bums will offer to show you the cache for a dollar! It's been in place for years.

 

Obviously judgement and discretion must be involved in any decision to reveal a cache, many times I have walked away because the muggle or situation just didn't look trustworthy.

 

I don't know how many folks I have introduced to our game by being open and friendly - I do know that no cache has been reported muggled or missing after I have revealed it's location!

 

I truly believe that if someone sees you lurking and acting hinky they pay more attention and are more likely to try to find what you were up to after you leave. If you are open and honest and show them what you are doing the vast mojority look at you funny and move on!

Edited by TheAlabamaRambler
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