Decoy or False Caches

[GPS-Hermit]

I got comments on another thread where people were commenting on liking or disliking Decoy caches

 

Decoy- meaning you find a cache that was deliberately placed for the purpose of telling you THIS is not the one you are looking for. It may/or not have clues to help you find the REAL one.

 

Please assume for this thread that nothing in the cache description said a Decoy would be out there.

 

So what do you think of the idea - Good - Bad - somewhere in the middle - it depends - liked one didn't like the other. ???????? Please indicate if you have FOUND one like that. I never have seen one but might consider it - depending on the new info in this thread. Please be honest - want to know what you really think!

 

Lets hear about it!

[+sbell111]

I think decoys are kinda lame. I don't see the utility in decoy caches. After all, if I look in a spot and the cache is not there, I don't require a decoy in the spot to tell me that the cache isn't there.

 

<EDIT: Trailgators objected to my use of the word 'lame', so I have changed my post in hopes that any person who enjoys these caches will not be offended.>

Edited April 17, 2008 by sbell111

[+the hermit crabs]

To me, they are annoying.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I think decoys are kinda lame. After all, if I look in a spot and the cache is not there, I don't require a decoy in the spot to tell me that the cache isn't there.

 

To me, they are annoying.

[+Stargazer22]

It all depends on the decoy.

To me, a micro decoy is annoying when searching for a micro.

 

I did find one cache that had several decoy ammo cans sitting out in plain sight, while the real one was up a tree on a pull cord. It was pretty funny seeing a bunch of decoy ammo cans.

It was a very remote area though, with almost no chance of muggles happening by, so they could get away with it.

[+PhantomTech]

I had a decoy on one of my caches for awhile. It was a baseball under a geocache stick pile saying 'Not the cache but your close'. People seemed to like it and here are some of the comments

 

Loved the baseball!!! Humor and a good hide go well together. TFTH

 

Nice hide, liked your knuckle ball. Signed log. THTH.

 

Interesting little 'non-cache' hint nearby.

 

It's a good thing the clever Baseball was clear about it's function. Otherwise we might have tried to disassemble it. Thanks for the hide.

 

Interesting tree indeed. Cute little teaser too.

 

Loved the decoy cache.

 

Was a baseball close by that was funny.

 

Had a good laugh when I got the message that I was close but not there yet. Thanks for the hunt.

 

Found the decoy right away, but then wandered a bit, up and around. Turns out I was right on top of it all along -- it was just very, very well hidden.

 

PhantomTech

[+briansnat]

I don't mind them once in a great while, but I think if the idea became popular it would get old for me real fast.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I had a decoy on one of my caches for awhile. It was a baseball under a geocache stick pile saying 'Not the cache but your close'. People seemed to like it and here are some of the comments

 

Loved the baseball!!! Humor and a good hide go well together. TFTH

 

Nice hide, liked your knuckle ball. Signed log. THTH.

 

Interesting little 'non-cache' hint nearby.

 

It's a good thing the clever Baseball was clear about it's function. Otherwise we might have tried to disassemble it. Thanks for the hide.

 

Interesting tree indeed. Cute little teaser too.

 

Loved the decoy cache.

 

Was a baseball close by that was funny.

 

Had a good laugh when I got the message that I was close but not there yet. Thanks for the hunt.

 

Found the decoy right away, but then wandered a bit, up and around. Turns out I was right on top of it all along -- it was just very, very well hidden.

 

PhantomTech

I guess that kind of decoy wouldn't be bad, since it's not a container you have to open. Various piles of sticks nearby would be an interesting decoy too. They might generate a lot of DNF logs

[Neos2]

I'm not really sure--I've only hunted one cache that had a decoy, and while I found the actual cache, I never did see the decoy.

 

I suppose it would be mildly 'cute' the first time. I suppose if I ever ran across a cacher who "specialized" in that sort of hide, their caches would end up on my ignore list fairly quickly.

 

Edit to add a missing"L" because I'm like that

Edited April 17, 2008 by Neos2

[+StarBrand]

I've done one. I had fun with it the one time. I suppose it would be fun once in a while but would get real old if there were many of them out there.

[+DanOCan]

One of the most creative ones I have seen involved an obvious LnL container attached with magnets to a lamp post. The owner clearly stated that you MUST sign the log to claim a Find. Once you got that container down you opened it to discover it was empty with something like "This is an offical geo-decoy" or some such thing written on it. (If you had looked closely, you could have seen the writing before going through the effort.)

 

Everything on the cache page was vague enough "standard size LnL", "hidden in an obvious spot", etc to apply to the decoy. Even the hint was "brown". Once you realized you didn't have the correct container you also realized that the cache description COULD refer to the bushes on the other side of the sidewalk which is where the real cache container was hidden.

 

The owner had a great time deleting logs from people who claimed a Find because they pulled down the decoy or those who posted "Needs Maintenance" logs because "someone muggled your logbook from the cache".

 

So, it can make for an interesting experience if it is done with some creative thought, but just hiding empty containers around ground zero so people think they found it only to discover they didn't is annoying, IMO.

[+J-Way]

I found one where there weren't any decoy caches, but there were lots of decoy UFO's (unnatural formation of objects). There was a pile of sticks, a pile of rocks, a piece of loose bark over the space between a couple of logs on the ground, etc. There was a distinct trail between each of the "decoys".

 

As for do I like them... I was amused at that one, but after 2 or 3 it would get old. Also, I've heard of "decoys" where it's only part of a container and is set up to make it look like the cache has gone missing (like putting the lid of a tupperware container and a few random McToys out in the open several feet away from the actual cache). This type of decoy would really irk me (because I would stop hunting after finding the decoy and log a DNF and "Needs Maintenance") and would probably result in an addition to my ignore list.

[+Parabola]

I did a very fun and pretty creative cache that I would kind of say it had decoys. It was a 11 stage muti cache. But each stage could have two sets of cords. If you found one set and went to those you would find the next stage to the cache. But there were "dead ends. And if you found the dead end you have to go back to the previous stage and look within 5 feet of what you found and there would be another set of cords that took you to the real next stage.

 

It sounds easy to say we'll I'll just look for two sets of cords at every stage. But some stages only had one set. Plus all the hides where just plain old evil. I flat out hated the cache but it kept taunting me. After completing it though, I look back and think how neat and different of a cache it was.

 

I have also found some normal type decoys with containers that say keep looking or not it. Kind of chuckle whenever I find one of those. So I would have to say they are kind of fun.

[+Thrak]

I found one that I really liked. Oddly enough, it was on a guard rail. The decoy was a typical guardrail cache. The real cache was not at all typical and was well done. When my wife finally spotted the cache we both had a good laugh. I've been meaning to emulate that hide in my area for quite some time but haven't quite gotten around to it so far. Yes, I'd include the decoy as well.

Edited April 16, 2008 by Thrak

[+trailpuppy]

I found one that I really liked. Oddly enough, it was on a guard rail. The decoy was a typical guardrail cache. The real cache was not at all typical and was well done. When my wife finally spotted the cache we both had a good laugh. I've been meaning to emulate that hide in my area for quite some time but haven't quite gotten around to it so far. Yes, I'd include the decoy as well.

 

I know the one you're talking about Thrak - it's an awesome cache!

 

I don't mind an occasional decoy cache as long as it doesn't take up too much time.

[+Totem Clan]

I saw a post about a cache that had a twist on the decoy theme. I think the cache was in England. I wouldn't even know where to begin to look for it now. Anyway the cache description said the cache was in a tin. When you arrived at the location there was a large wooden box or cabinet. Inside of it were several tins all but one of which was a decoy.

That type of thing would be interesting from time to time. Decoys where there are multiple container here and there out ground zero....... I don't think I'd like that too much.

[+Snoogans]

To me, they are annoying.

 

At least I'm honest on the one cache where I used a decoy...

[+Miragee]

I found one with two different decoy containers near the actual cache. It was well-done by creative cachers.

 

I found another one where everyone could find the decoy, but couldn't find the real cache. That one was very annoying . . . and it took the cache owner forever to finally Archive it . . .

 

So . . . if it is well-done, with creative decoys, it could be fun.

[+sbell111]

I did a very fun and pretty creative cache that I would kind of say it had decoys. It was a 11 stage muti cache. But each stage could have two sets of cords. If you found one set and went to those you would find the next stage to the cache. But there were "dead ends. And if you found the dead end you have to go back to the previous stage and look within 5 feet of what you found and there would be another set of cords that took you to the real next stage.

 

It sounds easy to say we'll I'll just look for two sets of cords at every stage. But some stages only had one set. Plus all the hides where just plain old evil. I flat out hated the cache but it kept taunting me. After completing it though, I look back and think how neat and different of a cache it was.

 

I have also found some normal type decoys with containers that say keep looking or not it. Kind of chuckle whenever I find one of those. So I would have to say they are kind of fun.

So it's basically an 11 - 20 stage multi. Ugh.

[+FamilyDNA]

I've found a few with decoys. Some have taunts such as, "we thought this spot was too obvious."

 

One cache I found recently while out with a friend, we found a "decoy" fitted in a fallen branch that said something like, "you're getting close." After searching all around the area, we finally came back to the decoy, pulled it out again, and discovered the actual cache concealed behind it. I liked this one because it was something new. Decoys are fine as long as they are cleverly done, and not overly common.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I did a very fun and pretty creative cache that I would kind of say it had decoys. It was a 11 stage muti cache. But each stage could have two sets of cords. If you found one set and went to those you would find the next stage to the cache. But there were "dead ends. And if you found the dead end you have to go back to the previous stage and look within 5 feet of what you found and there would be another set of cords that took you to the real next stage.

 

It sounds easy to say we'll I'll just look for two sets of cords at every stage. But some stages only had one set. Plus all the hides where just plain old evil. I flat out hated the cache but it kept taunting me. After completing it though, I look back and think how neat and different of a cache it was.

 

I have also found some normal type decoys with containers that say keep looking or not it. Kind of chuckle whenever I find one of those. So I would have to say they are kind of fun.

Like a maze where you go down the wrong path, Or a choose your own adventure book. I've thought of a hide like that, but setting it up will be a lot of work. I've also thought of one where each of those sets would lead you down a path ending in a different ending cache. One beginning, and 7 or 8 possible endings. You could log a find for each logbook you end up signing. A true choose your own adventure. A woven web of GeoCaches. It might even end with the final Caches being hidden by other people. I don't think it would be listed here though.

 

These are a kind of Cache where you spend months or years getting to the end, rether than trying to just get through it.

Edited April 17, 2008 by WRITE SHOP ROBERT

[+Lacomo]

I don't care much either way. They don't exite me much but they don't bother me either.

Like briansnat said though, if I found a lot of them they would get old pretty fast.

[+gof1]

A lot of my caches are hidden in areas that have many possible places to find a cache. I've only used one intentional decoy. It was a series of caches that each contained a clue for the final mystery cache. There was a bit of a local dust up over people deducing the final location of another series before all the clue had come out and it got me thinking. I warned everyone that they needed to wait for the final clue cache to be released before attempting to solve the mystery. The final clue included a simple math problem to get the correct coordinates for the mystery cache. Those who jumped the gun found a container that told them they needed to follow the stated instructions if they wanted to find the real cache. It seemed to be well received and the people who found the "decoy" didn't seem upset at anyone but themselves.

[Trinity's Crew]

I have found a couple of decoy caches. They usually amuse me.

[+JohnnyVegas]

I have found a couple of decoy caches, I also own a decoy cache. I see nothing wrong with them, I find puzzles caches that do not include any hints as to how to solve to be more annoying.

[+TrailGators]

I think decoys are kinda lame. After all, if I look in a spot and the cache is not there, I don't require a decoy in the spot to tell me that the cache isn't there.

I like them and I know that a lot of people really enjoy them. What counts is if you like it...

[+TrailGators]

I found one with two different decoy containers near the actual cache. It was well-done by creative cachers.

 

I found another one where everyone could find the decoy, but couldn't find the real cache. That one was very annoying . . . and it took the cache owner forever to finally Archive it . . .

 

So . . . if it is well-done, with creative decoys, it could be fun.

I found one of the same ones that you found. I actually thought it was very funny!

[+Smokey Bear Collector]

I've found a couple creative ones which I liked a lot. Now and then it's fun and keeps the game fresh. If they're not creative, then it gets old. Overall, I encourage it.

[+gof1]

I have found a couple of decoy caches, I also own a decoy cache. I see nothing wrong with them, I find puzzles caches that do not include any hints as to how to solve to be more annoying.

 

I'm with you on that one. For the most part I avoid puzzles. I've place a couple of them. During a rash of puzzle caches being hidden locally, each attempting to be more difficult than the last, I placed a couple meant to be easy. One of those ended up giving some cachers fits. As for solving and finding them, I cache to get out of the house, not spend hours researching obscure cyphers.

[+Totem Clan]

I did find one I really liked. It was in small shelter. There were three of four blocks of wood that were all the same size and painted the same color as the shelter. Each one had something written on it like, "Not the real cache" or "Try again." The real cache was also wooden, the same size, and the same color. The extras not only served as decoys, they also helped to hide the cache because they were spaced out evenly and looked like the ends of beams or something. That one was good.

[fishdirt]

Had my first one last weekend. I loved it. It was a funny micro, now get this, in a heavily wooded park. It was a challenge for sure (and if you don't like challenges I can see why you would think they are annoying). Definitly hones the skills. Took me about 5 minutes to get the piece of paper out of the decoy to reveal "this is not it". I laughed. Found the real one 10 minutes later. Me and my friend thought it was clever, evil but ery humorous.

[+beejay&esskay]

I found a cache at a symmetric location that had 8 possible hiding spots. 7 decoys and one real cache. The decoys were necessary to keep muggles from wondering about something not quite symmetrical.

 

I liked that one. (Although there was no notice in the decoys, so some cachers started logging the decoys as finds...assuming a log was missing.)

 

Every other decoy I have found I thought was lame.

Edited April 17, 2008 by beejay&esskay

[Luckless]

I've only encountered one so far. The coordinates for the cache took you to the middle of a parking lot. Since there was nothing there but pavement you of course figure it has to be the decon container hanging off the fence just beyond, but no, the note inside it said it wasn't. So frustrating and yet so satisfying when you do find the cache. Tricky, tricky hide.

[+TeamGumbo]

Haven't seen one yet, but I reckon I'd get a kick out of it.

[+Zolgar]

I think for me it would entirely depend on the nature of the decoy.

 

The one mentioned above with 7 decoy caches to keep everything symetircal. Yeah, that's great.

 

A single decoy cache hidden in a blatant spot fairly close to GZ, with a more creative actual hide? As long as they're not INSULTING with the decoy and have it clearly labeled as a decoy.

 

5 caches, hiding under 5 piles of rocks, only one is real? It would annoy the hell out of me if I didn't find the real one on the second attempt.

 

Insulting messages in the decoys? That will earn the hider an automatic ignore, and probably a note on the cache saying as such.

 

Long story short: If there's good reason or creative use for a decoy, then yes, it's fine.

 

If it's just a decoy for the sake of being a decoy, it will probably irritate me.

[+Happy Humphrey]

I have a cache that is listed (accurately) as a traditional with regular container. Also at the coordinates (and slightly less well-hidden) is a fake stone (decoy) hide with coordinates inside (the note also states that it isn't the cache).

 

Most people find the fake stone, then follow a 3-micro multicache trail through the forest until they find the final micro - which reminds them that the cache is not a multi, and to try again at the original spot.

 

They are asked to include a keyword to let me know that they took the "long route". Feedback seems positive despite the number of people that are taken in by this deception!

[+rstefano52]

I haven't ever found one but I worked with a friend and put one out for one of his caches. It's a lot of fun to see the comments - mostly positive from finders of the actual cache. The decoy is in close proximity of the cache so you don't have to go crazy looking for it. I just thought it would add to the challenge of the hunt. I had seen the concept of a decoy on a geocaching video and my friend's cache lent itself well to adding the decoy. I don't think there was any harm done because cachers are still finding the original with no problem. Happy caching.

[+nekom]

I've never encountered one. Must be a regional thing.

[Luckless]

I have a cache that is listed (accurately) as a traditional with regular container. Also at the coordinates (and slightly less well-hidden) is a fake stone (decoy) hide with coordinates inside (the note also states that it isn't the cache).

 

Most people find the fake stone, then follow a 3-micro multicache trail through the forest until they find the final micro - which reminds them that the cache is not a multi, and to try again at the original spot.

 

They are asked to include a keyword to let me know that they took the "long route". Feedback seems positive despite the number of people that are taken in by this deception!

 

Now that's positively wicked- but I like it you sneaky devil.

[+Happy Humphrey]

Now that's positively wicked- but I like it you sneaky devil.

The ultimate version would have the decoy "multi cache first stage" sitting right on top of the heavily-camo'd cache...it would have to be great camo though!

Edited April 17, 2008 by Happy Humphrey

[cliff_hanger]

I think for me it would entirely depend on the nature of the decoy.

 

Long story short: If there's good reason or creative use for a decoy, then yes, it's fine.

 

If it's just a decoy for the sake of being a decoy, it will probably irritate me.

 

I have one cache out there with a decoy very close by in an obvious hiding spot. The decoy is an empty, camoed, loc-n-loc labeled inside as "Official GeoDecoy". It's there for several reasons:

 

1) The cache is in a beautiful river gorge that has tremendous bounce because of the walls. At GZ your GPS consistently goes from 0 to 120 feet. The obvious decoy lets you know you're in about the right place.

 

2) Because it's such a beautiful gorge and the stream has some great wading pools (in summer sometimes with naked bodies) it's a very "muggley" area. The decoy is there as a "sacrfice" in hopes that muggles won't look any further if they stumble on it

 

3) Decoy fits the theme

[+redtech]

There is one pretty close to me. Its a tree with a hole around head height and the base of the tree is also hollow. The name of the cache is "Treehouse"

 

The first thing I did was grope around in the base and couldn't find anything. I inspected the hole that was higher up and found a string that was barely visible. I felt like a dummy and pulled the string. Only to find nothing at the end of it.

 

I had a mirror with me and did finally spot something that looked like a key container. I actually hurt myself getting to it. The "Key container" was actually just a plastic square that said "you didn't think it would be this easy did you?" Thats all we could find. I ended up with a DNF and emailed the owner.

 

He replied a few days later and disabled it because the cache was indeed gone. He said that note was supposed to be tied to the wire. Its back up now but I haven't gone back yet. Hopefully this weekend!!!

[+brokenoaks]

sounds like a total waste of time and effort

[+Team LaLonde]

The best decoy cache we've seen was a guard rail cache. The rail was about forty feet long and looked like a typical hide-a-key container. Inside was a note that said, "How do you keep a newbie cacher busy for hours?". Then you figure the real container MUST be on the guardrail and you find an identical hide-a-key at the opposite end with the same note - "How do you keep a newbie cacher busy for hours?". Needless to say, the real container was NOT on the guardrail.

 

At the time of the hunt it wasn't so amusing, but looking back on it we can see the humor.

[+J Loran]

A couple of our local group have a decoy hide called Insanity Tree. It's an enormous pine with many, many film containers hanging in it, one of which is the cache. The other containers hold pieces of paper with inspirational or silly survival techniques written on them. Part of logging your find is quoting one of the decoys. This was a lot of fun for our Geocaching christmas party and people are still enjoying it!

[+joranda]

I'm not fond of them, but what do you do?

[+jrope]

For a well hidden cache I do not think it is necessary. For an easy cache though, I will usually set an obvious bunch of sticks together near the actual cache just to make it a little more interesting. It just makes the one that runs up to a cache and says, I found it, say, oops I guess I didn't.

[+whistler & co.]

We don't particularly like them. We've found a couple that have been OK, but one was really annoying, with seven or so decoys in an area with poor satellite reception. To top it off, we were searching the stone walls of abandonded bridge abutments while standing ON narrow a roadway between the two walls, AND on a blind curve. Not exactly fun.

 

One decoy was great though...an empty ammo can with "Keep looking!" painted in the bottom of the interior. We replaced the can and kept searching to no avail. We ended up logging a DNF, but in the middle of the night I was hit with a revelation and we drove back the next weekend (an 80+ mile round trip) to find that in the bottom of the can was a big flat ammo-can colored magnet with the logsheet taped on underneath. THAT was a good one!

Edited April 23, 2008 by whistler & co.

[+the hermit crabs]

We don't particularly like them. We've found a couple that have been OK, but one was really annoying, with seven or so decoys in an area with poor satellite reception. To top it off, we were searching the stone walls of abandonded bridge abutments while standing ON narrow a roadway between the two walls, AND on a blind curve. Not exactly fun.

 

One decoy was great though...an empty ammo can with "Keep looking!" painted in the bottom of the interior. We replaced the can and kept searching to no avail. We ended up logging a DNF, but in the middle of the night I was hit with a revelation and we drove back the next weekend (an 80+ mile round trip) to find that in the bottom of the can was a big flat ammo-can colored magnet with the logsheet taped on underneath. THAT was a good one!

I agree -- I think that those are the only kinds of decoys that I have enjoyed. We've found three that I can think of like that (although they were all different enough from each other that each one felt unique).

 

I think what bugs me about regular decoy caches -- the kind where there's a separate container that just sneers at you for finding the wrong thing -- is this: "if you knew the coordinates would point me here, knew it enough to put a container here, then why did you hide the real container somewhere else?"

 

it's probably just that I don't like to be sneered at

[+Cedar Grove Seekers]

We were doing a difficult multi, and there was an obvious hiding spot at one of the stages. There was a note that read "Do you really think I'd place it here?" We liked it due to the fact that the owner anticipated people would look at the obvious spot.