Finding an unpublished cache

[+Team B.L.T.]

Today my caching buddy and myself were out caching. We went to a cache I had in my GPSr that I had downloaded from GSAK not knowing the cache was archived. But the stangest thing was we found another cache within feet from the old cache. We opened the cache and there were no logs, we thought we had founs the beloved FTF. After trying to log it we founs that the cache had not been published yet. My biggest question is does this still count as an FTF or what. How many others have run in to this?

 

Now we just need to wait for the cache to be published. The strange part was on the log was the placed date. All the way back to the Dec 26, 2008.

[+ZSandmann]

Sounds like an FTF to me Congrats, just wait for it to be published sometimes it takes a while.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Unpublished caches? Oops.

Just saw a cache show up in Instant Notification. Oops. Wrong state listed. My Instant Notification is only within my state. Oops. Guess the cacher pushed the wrong button. Went back to look at it again, and it was 'unpublished'. Should I run out in the dark and find the unpublished cache??? Naw. It's dark out.

Oh, well. Only the second time I've seen that. The other one was listed in a state halfway across the country. Oh, well. No one's perfect.

[+sullude]

I was looking for a spot for a cache but figure I didn't want people to put their hands in a tree that I thought a animal may be living in. Typical oak with multi trunk rotten out in the middle with two holes in bottom of main truck, had a ammo can for it, looked down and sure as hell a pill bottle all camoed up just lieing there half hidden, singed it and it's been three weeks and haven't showed up yet as a new cache. lmfao.

[+M 5]

May be published on another site. Terracaching for one. Geocaching.com is the most common, but there are others

[+Texas4Ever]

Well, somebody found a stage of my multi while putting out a cache. What are the odds?

 

It was just being published and the next day he had a head start. Needless to say he was FTF.

[+Trucker Lee]

Found an unpublished once while searching for another. Seems cacher had placed but never got published, then she went dormant. Another cacher filled the location, and wife and I found the first cache while looking for thesecond. Caused a bit of confusion for a day or two.

[+LSUFan]

May be published on another site. Terracaching for one. Geocaching.com is the most common, but there are others

 

Yes, there are definitely others. I placed a cache at the site of the Bonnie and Clyde ambush. Later on it was discovered that someone else had placed a letterbox there the same week as my placement. The containers were the same (lock and locks) and not too far apart. Several geocachers have actually found the letterbox and signed it's log, as well as leave trade items, thinking it is the geocache.

 

I have corrected the webpage, and pointed out to make sure that everyone finds the geocache and not the letterbox. Whenever I do maintenance on this cache, I always check the letterbox too. From reading it's logbook, it seems that is a popular game also.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...77-e139d32a76f8

Edited March 2, 2009 by LSUFan

[+DENelson83]

Why not just ask to have those two combined to make a letterbox hybrid?

[Keystone]

Why not just ask to have those two combined to make a letterbox hybrid?

Because LSUfan is being respectful of the letterbox owner and their property. It's not his container or listing to modify.

 

Darn, I wish I had noticed this cache when planning my vacation travel route last month. I drove from Shreveport to West Monroe nonstop at the end of a day of caching, and didn't cover the area of this cache in my pocket queries. If I had, I would have made a detour.

[+Viajero Perdido]

I have to tell this story.

 

A while ago, a cache was published and then immediately retracted. A pretty clever local cacher took note of the low-precision distance (eg, "6.7km N") mentioned in the notification email. He collaborated with another cacher, who also got the email, but with a different distance and bearing.

 

You guessed it. They triangulated the location and found the cache, using only that low-precision info.

 

I'm impressed.

[+Ladybug Kids]

I found GC17QNN before it was published while in the act of hiding a cache of my own. Here's the log.

[+DENelson83]

Why not just ask to have those two combined to make a letterbox hybrid?

Because LSUfan is being respectful of the letterbox owner and their property.

Hence why I said "ask to" do it, not just do it.

[+WRWhizard]

While scouting my favorite local park for a personal hide, I found the final for a rather devious puzzle cache. At first, I thought I had a FTF on a new unpublished but I soon discovered it had been archive on GC.com because the owner was banned. The start point was downtown Pittsburgh, the final was way out in the suburbs. The thing is still active on another site so I logged the find there, but pulled the travel bugs since they were unloggable due to the site being archived. Kind of weird finding one by accident like that.

[+PorscheSpyder]

I have to tell this story.

 

A while ago, a cache was published and then immediately retracted. A pretty clever local cacher took note of the low-precision distance (eg, "6.7km N") mentioned in the notification email. He collaborated with another cacher, who also got the email, but with a different distance and bearing.

 

You guessed it. They triangulated the location and found the cache, using only that low-precision info.

 

I'm impressed.

 

Wow, now those were two very clever cachers!

[+Doogerd]

I had coords for GC1AEG1 on my GPS, found it... no log so I left a temp tattoo & pin then left. I get home after a couple more finds & tried to log the cache only to find it's only available to premium members! Don't know how I got coords for a premium cache but I found it anyway!

[+tzipora]

I have to tell this story.

 

A while ago, a cache was published and then immediately retracted. A pretty clever local cacher took note of the low-precision distance (eg, "6.7km N") mentioned in the notification email. He collaborated with another cacher, who also got the email, but with a different distance and bearing.

 

You guessed it. They triangulated the location and found the cache, using only that low-precision info.

 

I'm impressed.

 

Wow, now those were two very clever cachers!

 

I placed a cache, and when I submitted it, I made a typo on both the northing and westing coordinates, but described the location. When the email came out, I noticed the error, and immediately disabled the cache, noting that the coordinates were significantly wrong. Approximately 80 miles wrong.

 

A genius of a local cacher figured out where the cache was and FTFed it, even before the actual coordinates were posted.

[+C@H]

Went out hunting one morning for 3 FTF all a fair drive out of the city. Arrived at the first of the 3 and looked for the cache, found it, logged it, dropped in a coin and continued on to the next FTF. Found the next FTF and the one after that, all with empty log books. Arrived home and got a email from a fellow cacher, telling me they where on my trail all day, just missing me at each FTF. In there email they also told me the first cache was the wrong cache and that the cache owner had told them to change there log to a DNF or it would be deleted.

 

It turns out there where 2 new caches placed with-in meters of one another in a tiny camping site in the middle of nowhere. The cache I got and 3 other cachers behind me was the unpublished one.

 

Got 2 other FTF's for the day so not all that bad.

[+Team Three Boys]

If ur that lucky sounds like an FTF to me!!

[+Knight2000]

My biggest question is does this still count as an FTF or what.

FTF is just a fact. Nothing to count. You either are or you aren't.

[+Buddies-Buddies]

There is another possibility why you may find a cache that hasn't been published yet. In my area we hold an annual campout event, and a group of the local cahers have caches placed, and approved - but not published until the date of the event.

 

I know that I have had caches placed in the field for over two months before they were listed.

[+bmxpop]

I actually found a cache before it was placed. It had been published, but the cache owner didn't have it placed yet.

My log for this one:

 

FTF!!!! I saw this one this morning and decided to leave for work a little early to grab it. I almost got there a little too early!!! I found the obvious spot, but no cache, just a box of crayons. I looked around a bit more, but was convinced that I had the right spot, so I went back to the car to get a piece of paper to sign and log my find. As I got back to the road, a car pulled in behind me...the cache owner with cache in hand!!! Turns out that the cache wasn't quite ready to go when published, and he was just ready to place it then. After verifying that I had indeed found the right spot, he allowed me to sign the logbook. First time I ever got to find a cache before it was even placed!!! TFTC and look forward to more in the future!!!

[+Mortarman11c]

I found GC1BKBZ two days before it was published, due to the owners flip flopped coordinates!!

 

Here....

 

[+Cpl. Klinger]

I actually found a cache before it was placed. It had been published, but the cache owner didn't have it placed yet.

My log for this one:

 

FTF!!!! I saw this one this morning and decided to leave for work a little early to grab it. I almost got there a little too early!!! I found the obvious spot, but no cache, just a box of crayons. I looked around a bit more, but was convinced that I had the right spot, so I went back to the car to get a piece of paper to sign and log my find. As I got back to the road, a car pulled in behind me...the cache owner with cache in hand!!! Turns out that the cache wasn't quite ready to go when published, and he was just ready to place it then. After verifying that I had indeed found the right spot, he allowed me to sign the logbook. First time I ever got to find a cache before it was even placed!!! TFTC and look forward to more in the future!!!

 

If you were going to drop a piece of paper, and hadn't met up with the CO, then you wouldn't have "found it."

 

Convinced you have the right spot and leaving a piece of paper ≠ found. If I were the CO and saw that kind of log, it'd be deleted.

[+Cpl. Klinger]

I actually found a cache before it was placed. It had been published, but the cache owner didn't have it placed yet.

My log for this one:

 

FTF!!!! I saw this one this morning and decided to leave for work a little early to grab it. I almost got there a little too early!!! I found the obvious spot, but no cache, just a box of crayons. I looked around a bit more, but was convinced that I had the right spot, so I went back to the car to get a piece of paper to sign and log my find. As I got back to the road, a car pulled in behind me...the cache owner with cache in hand!!! Turns out that the cache wasn't quite ready to go when published, and he was just ready to place it then. After verifying that I had indeed found the right spot, he allowed me to sign the logbook. First time I ever got to find a cache before it was even placed!!! TFTC and look forward to more in the future!!!

 

If you were going to drop a piece of paper, and hadn't met up with the CO, then you wouldn't have "found it."

 

Convinced you have the right spot and leaving a piece of paper ≠ found. If I were the CO and saw that kind of log, it'd be deleted.

[+PirateKatz]

There is another possibility why you may find a cache that hasn't been published yet. In my area we hold an annual campout event, and a group of the local cahers have caches placed, and approved - but not published until the date of the event.

 

I know that I have had caches placed in the field for over two months before they were listed.

 

That happened to us a few weeks ago. We were searching for a cache and stumbled upon a temporary cache for a planned event that we knew nothing of. It confused us to no end when we were out (it had no log but was full of poker chips and a FTF prize), so we just let it be and ignored it.

[+TEAM HARTSOCK]

While at camp in July, I got bored and put out a number of caches. When I got home, I found that one of those wouldn't be approved due to it being located at a bridge of a State Route. Didn't know that policy was in place, so it was finally archived a little while ago, eventhough it wasn't active. Yesterday, I finally got back to the area for a picnic (I am down there often, but for the last few months things have kept me away. I am able to routinely maintence all my caches, but wasn't able to get to this area to pull the unapproved one.) So I stopped and retrieved the cache.

 

I suspect that many times people hide caches, and for one reason or another might not have them approved and they just don't bother to go retrieve them. After all, the cache in the original posting was said to have been placed in December of 08. I have had some caches take awhile to be approved, but 9 months is a pretty long time...

[+atmospherium]

I found two unpublished geocaches.

 

I stumbled across one while doing another nearby cache. The unpublished one had been placed by cachers who had dropped out of the game and never retrieved it. (Don't know if they ever submitted it; it wouldn't have been approved at that location anyways.)

 

I found the other while placing my own cache. As I knelt down and reached through the tree branches I spotted a container already in that exact spot. Darn! It had a log book but no identifying marks. After some detective work I tracked down the CO, who very graciously offered to remove theirs and allow me to go ahead with mine. I'm sure the large amount of money and/or guaranteed FTF I waved in front of them had no bearing on their offer.

[+Kabuthunk]

I've found a cache that actually ended up working in reverse for me. On this cache, there was an unpublished (perhaps simply not-accepted-and-the-owner-never-bothered-to-retrieve-it cache) in the area, and the FIVE cachers that "found" it before me had found this unpublished, mystery cache.

 

When I came along, I didn't find the mystery cache, but found the ACTUAL one... and thus was quite perplexed that it had a blank logbook and FTF certificate (see my log). As well, ANOTHER 6 cachers found the 'mystery' cache (which I still have no clue where it was hidden) before someone else found the 'real' cache. At which point, one of the original mystery-finders went back and solved the entire thing. Only a few of the original 11 mystery-finders went back and re-found the actual cache (but logged it as a note, so as not to log two finds on the cache).

 

All in all, it was the most unusual FTF I've ever gotten .