STOLEN CACHE

[P sound]

We have had a cache hidden for many years now and have had great success with Geocacher's hunting for it. Went to do some routine maintenance after a long winter only to find out it had been taken from its hiding spot. I can't understand why someone would bother and it is HIGHLY unlikely that someone would just stumble across it as it was very well hidden in a remote destination. Has anyone experienced anything like this?

 

P Sound

[+Klatch]

We have had a cache hidden for many years now and have had great success with Geocacher's hunting for it. Went to do some routine maintenance after a long winter only to find out it had been taken from its hiding spot. I can't understand why someone would bother and it is HIGHLY unlikely that someone would just stumble across it as it was very well hidden in a remote destination. Has anyone experienced anything like this?

 

P Sound

Unfortunately, it happens all the time. Having one stolen in a remote location like that is unusual, however. Have you shown it to anyone who may have taken a liking to it?

[+ventura_kids]

I've had a rusty old Altoids tin stolen 4 times in a row.

All it had in it was a soggy piece of paper with a bunch of fake names on it.

 

I guess rusty Altoid tins are some sort of collectors items.

[+BlueDeuce]

Around here Mushroom hunters tend to find those caches in remote locations. And tis the season.

[+victorymike]

Not only do mushroom hunters and coyote hunters and fishermen and other hunters occassionally came across a cache...so do critters. Not to mention water levels causing it to float away (one of my caches went missing recently after having stayed in place for 6 years...high water level in the swamp got it). I had a bear take a liking to one of my cache locations once. I tethered it and it lasted a few more years.

[+XopherN71]

Well, just remember - your cache is only hidden as well as the last person left it. It wasn't necessarily hidden in the way you intended.

 

Just tonight I saw 2 caches right out in the open and the cover that was used was just lying next to it.

Edited May 10, 2008 by XopherN71

[+Lotho]

Its like anything you leave lying around, even if it has no great monetary value someone may take it still.

[paganfrog]

just thought it worth mentioning, but altoids tins are usually sought after by arts and crafters. the tins are altered and decorated for individual use. just thought to mention that after reading of your altoid tin cache disapearance.

 

edited to add. just as an afterthought alternative crafters dont usually go looking for something that has been hidden away, if we see something that looks discarded in the open then its fair game, otherwise its not arts and crafters stealing the caches

Edited May 10, 2008 by paganfrog

[4wheelin_fool]

We have had a cache hidden for many years now and have had great success with Geocacher's hunting for it. Went to do some routine maintenance after a long winter only to find out it had been taken from its hiding spot. I can't understand why someone would bother and it is HIGHLY unlikely that someone would just stumble across it as it was very well hidden in a remote destination. Has anyone experienced anything like this?

 

P Sound

 

You may want to look around the original hiding spot, as sometimes caches will migrate due to one person finding it, handing it to their buddy, and having the second person rehide it a little differently. I'm guessing it is still there.

 

You should also disable (or archive if you are not going to replace it) the listing by clicking the box at the top of the screen on the right hand side if it is gone.

[+MarshMonsters]

 

You may want to look around the original hiding spot, as sometimes caches will migrate due to one person finding it, handing it to their buddy, and having the second person rehide it a little differently. I'm guessing it is still there.

 

You should also disable (or archive if you are not going to replace it) the listing by clicking the box at the top of the screen on the right hand side if it is gone.

 

There are also cachers who think they have a better hiding spot nearby and put the cache back in a new spot. There are also the ones who camo it "better" too. So I always take that into account when I am looking for a cache.

[+Keruso]

 

You may want to look around the original hiding spot, as sometimes caches will migrate due to one person finding it, handing it to their buddy, and having the second person rehide it a little differently. I'm guessing it is still there.

 

You should also disable (or archive if you are not going to replace it) the listing by clicking the box at the top of the screen on the right hand side if it is gone.

 

There are also cachers who think they have a better hiding spot nearby and put the cache back in a new spot. There are also the ones who camo it "better" too. So I always take that into account when I am looking for a cache.

 

There have been times when i come up to a cache, and it sticks out like a sore thumb (trust me on the sore thumb, i've cut it once. Do you know how hard it is to not use a finger?). So i do the Boy Scout thing. Leave No Trace, so i try to hide it better than i found it, unless otherwise. Like a cache i did last week, it didn't even need hidden. It's so far back into the woods and hidden under jaggers and branches, that i didn't even need to hide it better

[+WRASTRO]

I did a cache maintenance stop yesterday and had to do a true search for the cache since it was not where I hid it. Once I found it I decided I like the new location and I left it there since it was at the same coordinates as the original hide. Your cache may still be there.

[+critterator]

We have had a cache hidden for many years now and have had great success with Geocacher's hunting for it. Went to do some routine maintenance after a long winter only to find out it had been taken from its hiding spot. I can't understand why someone would bother and it is HIGHLY unlikely that someone would just stumble across it as it was very well hidden in a remote destination. Has anyone experienced anything like this?

 

P Sound

 

Was it in a park? Park workers who find geocahes during maintanence, or are worried about off trail caches in the park may go on a cach removal binge (including the on trail ones). Though in most instances I've heard of, they'll contact the cache owner. Every park, and park system is different in how they treat geocaches and how much they know about geocaching (often nothing).

[+joranda]

My first cache is in the middle of the woods in the town that I live in. It went smooth the first year or so then all of a sudden if came up missing. You would think in the middle of no where it would be fine. I remember being a kid and you always find something in the middle of no where.

[+belair56]

This is the problem with TB Hotels.

[+emmett]

.

 

I have placed 75 caches and more than 200 stages and my experience is that too many cachers simply do not take good care when replacing the caches they have found. This leads to the natural result of missing containers.

 

It is very frustrating.

 

.

[+Runaround]

Is there a trail within 100 yards of the "remote location" or an area called the "middle of nowhere"? If so, then don't underestimate other park users getting to the spot. I've hunted many "remote location" caches only to find footprints and litter in close proximity to the cache.

[+Nightshade01]

Why? Here's one reason.

Today, I set out to find a couple of new caches in my area, all placed by (let's call him) Cacher A, and failed to find a number of them. When I checked the cache pages upon returning home, I learned that my failure to locate them was not due to my poor hunting skills.

Apparently Cacher A had hunted for one of Cacher B's caches recently, and had left a post with some mild criticism of the choice of sites. Cacher B took great offense at this, and retaliated by going out and stealing all of Cacher A's new caches. He then proceeded to create a new account ("CacherASux") and used it to post taunting notes on each of the removed cache's pages.

 

Model cacher, this one.

[trollcacher]

I hid a cache and it was stolen twice. It was a cute metal 1-up mushroom. So, I'd say when found they decided they wanted it.

[+KD7MXI]

We have had a cache hidden for many years now and have had great success with Geocacher's hunting for it. Went to do some routine maintenance after a long winter only to find out it had been taken from its hiding spot. I can't understand why someone would bother and it is HIGHLY unlikely that someone would just stumble across it as it was very well hidden in a remote destination. Has anyone experienced anything like this?

 

P Sound

 

whenever i use a 35mm canaster it almost always vanish within a few days of being placed

 

i placed 2 m&m containers and there still there after several months to 2 years after placed

Edited November 9, 2008 by KD7MXI