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Thousands of Cache Finds


lcandela123

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I'm in awe of some cachers that are up to 2000 or 3000 caches found. How on earth do you do it? Spouse and I have been caching for about a year, and we're up to ~130. The most we've found in one day is 7, I think, which was a lot of work! One cacher told me he often does 50 or 100 in one day. For real??

 

OK, so what's the secret? I'm suspecting some fibbing going on here....... (kidding) :D

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No secret, just going caching. Time, both caching over a number of years, and having time to cache help.

 

And being familiar with this website and some software apps that make planning easier.

 

Another thing that happens over time is a familiarity with your region that vastly exceeds BC (before caching). Today, for instance, I'm going to join some people for some caching to my north. 3 years ago, this would have meant a lot of map work, route finding and trip planning - just figuring out where trail head parking is.

This morning I loaded a PQ and will hit the road without doing any research at all, because previous trips have familiarized me with the area.

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Though some high numbers cachers have been known to stretch the definition of a find, others are on the up and up.

 

Even the ones who have an imaginative definition of a find still have amazing counts. If someone who found 25,000 caches stretched the truth on 10 percent of them, that is still a LOT of legit finds.

 

To reach those lofty numbers, these people have been at this for a long time, have plenty of spare time and a dedication to geocaching that borders on an obsession.

 

I know one geocacher whose nearly 6,000 finds may not seem all that impressive a day when dozens have 5 digit find counts, but he has accumulated that number in just over two years and has done so in an area that is not conducive to numbers runs. His focus on geocaching is incredible. He'll find 5, 10, 15 caches a day, nearly every day and has found at least one cache for 680 consecutive days. Keep that up over 5, 6, 7 and more years and do it in area where there are thousands of park and grabs and you see those counts that you find so unbelievable.

Edited by briansnat
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Though some high numbers cachers have been known to stretch the definition of a find, others are on the up and up.

 

Even the ones who have an imaginative definition of a find still have amazing counts. If someone who found 25,000 caches stretched the truth on 10 percent of them, that is still a LOT of legit finds.

 

To reach those lofty numbers, these people have been at this for a long time, have plenty of spare time a dedication to geocaching that borders on an obsession (or to some steps over that border).

 

I know one geocacher whose nearly 6,000 finds may not seem all that impressive a day where dozens have 5 digit find counts, but he has accumulated that number in just two years and has done so in an area that is not conducive to numbers runs. His focus on geocaching is incredible. He'll find 5, 10, 15 caches a day, nearly every day and has found at least one cache for 680 consecutive days. Keep that up over 5, 6, 7 and more years and you see those counts that you find so unbelievable.

 

My wife and I get out as often as possible and are sure to carry our Garmins with us while on vacation. We set goals for the month and have friendly competions with alot of cachers who probably didn't have any ideas that we were chasing them. We have a local couple who likes to pass us up and it is always a thrill to catch up to them again even if they do have 150 that they have yet to log. For the exercise we chant but in reality we stay pretty close to the Jeep as much as possible...but then again we have been known to actually hike..The wife usually spots the cache first and has me "fetch". Keepin it fun! Oh, and we celebrate milestones too![:D]

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A whole lot of it depends on the type of hunting you do and the type of cache you hunt.

 

Recently, I hunted a cache in the woods. It was in an area that is wonderful to wander around and just enjoy the scenery. I took pictures and spent some time at the site.

 

My next find that day was about 18 miles away. Again, it was a quiet, country area and I again spent a bit of time on site. No rush to leave and no stress about finding a certain number of caches.

 

Could I have found more caches that day? You bet. There were more than a dozen Micros in parking lots and on streets on the way to my first find. I simply didn't want to look for them.

 

It's a bit easier to find 30 or so caches in a day when each only takes a few minutes to locate and you don't stop to "smell the roses." Please don't worry about numbers. Enjoy the trip wherever you go and let the caches, however many or few, be icing on the cake.

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It doesn't hurt if your main hobby is geocaching, and you've been at it for a number of years. And if you spend your vacations geocaching. We did 130 caches last June! (Four geocachers on a trip to Maine to work on the DeLorme Challenge.) And, despite what some people think, we had plenty of time to stop and smell the roses. We saw many fantastic places we would never have seen otherwise.

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We have tried to do the numbers run thing a couple of times. For us it doesn't work. After a handful of finds we have always decided it just isn't fun. To each his own but we prefer to find caches that take us to a spot we can enjoy even if the cache wasn't there. I know, for some that IS Wally World or Micky D's.

 

So Harry Dolphin, about that 130 cache you found, how long did you spend on it? For me, and not saying it is the same for anyone else, 130 caches in a day would not leave enough time to enjoy the cool places they may lead. See those place maybe, but not enjoy them. 130 caches over a weeks vacation would be a different story.

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I'm in awe of some cachers that are up to 2000 or 3000 caches found. How on earth do you do it? Spouse and I have been caching for about a year, and we're up to ~130. The most we've found in one day is 7, I think, which was a lot of work! One cacher told me he often does 50 or 100 in one day. For real??

 

OK, so what's the secret? I'm suspecting some fibbing going on here....... (kidding) :D

 

First, a preface: What I am about to write below may sound shocking, but it is the total truth, and I am likely the ONLY person here who will tell you the truth. Here goes, but be sure that you are sitting down, for what I am abut to say is SHOCKING:

 

The truth of the matter is that all the high find counts of over about 200 finds are a very big lie, that is, a fraud! To my best knowledge, there is no geocacher alive who has over about 210 legitimate -- that is, real - finds, and, if anyone is claiming a higher number than that, then all the rest of their finds are faked. So, all those thousands of caching accounts which seem to own 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 or even 4,000 or 5,000 finds are frauds, and, of course, the twelve or so accounts that claim to have over 23,000 finds are COMPLETE frauds! In fact, our Vinny & Sue Team seems to have 2,707 finds, but almost all of them are really multiple "attends" for a local event held at a pizzeria, and also over 2,000 finds that we logged repeatedly on one of our archived caches, just to raise our find count!

 

You can trust what I have written here totally, because I have written it on the Internet, and everyone knows that anything you read on the Internet must be true, under US federal law and under Interpol International Law, Section 3, Subsection 45BG, Paragraph 21.

 

However, since geocachers love to claim that they have high find counts, I am about the only cacher who will tell the dirty truth about this nasty little matter of find counts, and everyone else prefers to keep their fraudulent high find counts and to remain in a state of denial.

 

One last word: I am not lying! Really! I am telling you the absoluke truth! I swear!

 

 

 

 

:D

 

:D

 

;)

 

:D

 

 

:P

 

 

;)

 

 

 

B)

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Sure, for real.

 

My caching partner and I have done 60 caches in 20 hours once. And on a week long trip to the Mega Event in Quebec we did just over 100 caches.

 

As a premium member you can do PQ's for 1/1 difficulty/terrain caches and go get em... It helps if you work for yourself and have 168 free hours per week, LOL.

What gets me are the 43 people with over 10,000 finds, or the 2 people with over 20,000 finds, or the one with over 30,000 finds. That's at least one cache a day since caching was invented (on average, and if they actually started right then).

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LOTS of free time + desire = 1000’s of finds

 

This and geocache density in your area. We visited the San Antonio area a few years back and couldn't believe the number of caches in that area and were only able to nab a few due to limited time. In my area there are about 600-700 caches in the entire Black Hills region which covers quite an area. Allot of these caches require a good deal of hiking and climbing steep elevations. So if you were to find 200 caches in 1-2 years in my area, that would be considered good. I would much rather spend my day hiking and enjoying the scenery and claim 2 finds, than find 50 park and grabs any day. :D It's not about the numbers but the adventure getting there.

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I'm in awe of some cachers that are up to 2000 or 3000 caches found. How on earth do you do it? Spouse and I have been caching for about a year, and we're up to ~130. The most we've found in one day is 7, I think, which was a lot of work! One cacher told me he often does 50 or 100 in one day. For real??

 

OK, so what's the secret? I'm suspecting some fibbing going on here....... (kidding) :D

 

The biggest factor I have noticed is that you have to care so deeply about your find count that it becomes a top priority. In doing this you accept that there are some sacrifices in Geocaching (and in life) that you will have to make to amass thousands of finds. Here's just a few common factors I've noticed are common in folks that that have large find counts.

 

1. Your creed: Any cache is a good cache. You target, enjoy, and in some cases promote the proliferation of quick and easy, park and grab type caches.

2. Be highly organized.

3. Be paperless.

4. Past a few thousand finds a year, have no other hobbies or interests that come with a time commitment.

5. Be consistent and persistent in your hunting.

6. Set goals for numbers of finds.

7. Compete with others Geocachers for numbers of finds.

8. Use and master the basic software and tools on GC.com.

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When I see 4-digit find totals accompaning a Find log like this: I looked around a bit, must be missing so I put out a replacement, or this: I'm pretty sure I found where it was supposed to be, so I'm logging it as a find, then I figure a good deal that total is garbage.

 

Not every high-total player plays that way. And it's a lot easier if you live in a high density area. I've got a thousand caches within an 11 mile radius of me.

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Though I personally only have 193 finds, there are two cachers in the "Canada Capital Cachers" where 1 has close to 5000 finds and the other has over 5000. Both take pictures at every cache and posts them. One told me one of the reason he does this is for exactly this reason, proof. In speaking to both of these high number cachers, I believe them because one only needs to speak to them to tell the passion they have for this sport and also in listening to their experience(s).

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The truth of the matter is that all the high find counts of over about 200 finds are a very big lie, that is, a fraud!

What Vinny neglected to tell you is that, all of those high number cachers are his sock puppets. When Vinny was working for the NSA, he developed a software program he called GC Finder. This program would creep along the Internet, looking for subfiles with GC prefixes and logging links, then it would affix a "TNLNSL" to that file. Because Vinny is actually an Alien Gray, his software was, naturally, self aware and it began replicating itself within the Groundspeak servers as sock puppet accounts. Early on, Jeremy tried to thwart these socks, but his staff of minions became overwhelmed. This was June of 2001. At that time there were 11 legitimate accounts and 7,000+ Vinny socks. The percentages haven't changed much over the years.

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We have tried to do the numbers run thing a couple of times. For us it doesn't work. After a handful of finds we have always decided it just isn't fun. To each his own but we prefer to find caches that take us to a spot we can enjoy even if the cache wasn't there. I know, for some that IS Wally World or Micky D's.

 

So Harry Dolphin, about that 130 cache you found, how long did you spend on it? For me, and not saying it is the same for anyone else, 130 caches in a day would not leave enough time to enjoy the cool places they may lead. See those place maybe, but not enjoy them. 130 caches over a weeks vacation would be a different story.

 

Okay. Here's the breakdown: 8 caches in New Jersey before heading to Maine. 8 caches on the way to my sister's - Mass, NH and Me. Then 6 days wandering about Maine and New Brunswick: 17, 20, 14, 30, 15 & 4. (Yes. The numbers hos had to go caching in Canada!) 1 in Vermont on the way home. The other 13 caches were for the rest of the month. 4 days: 4 in NY, 1 in PA, 6 in NJ, and 2 in CT including the maze exhibit. No. I cannot remember all of the caches. Yes. This was the most interesting way actually to see Maine. And we did see some very beautiful places, including the 2 hour ferry ride to Vinalhaven (and 2 hours back), and a half hour to find the cache. :D

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I personally know a cacher that found 240 caches in a single 24 hour period. I have personally watched an out-of-town team of 5 find about 100 in just 14 hours. Raw desire to do it is all.

 

Cache density helps. Lots of time helps. Lots of travel helps. Group efforts help.

 

Back in 2003 my goal was to find 1 cache a week. The only other cacher I knew at that time told me that was really stretching myself and would require lots of travel out of this area. These days, I regularly see cachers rack up 50 to 100 in just 2 or 3 days within 40 miles of here.

 

On the flip side - I have been doing this 1 day over 7 years and have yet to reach 800 finds. But I have sure enjoyed the stories that go with most of those.

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Interesting dialog here! To each his own, I guess. I am in the camp of many here, that the joy of caching is combined with the fun of being outdoors, enjoying nature, getting some exercise, and having some quality time (cliche!) with the spouse. I just can't see how one can physically accomplish 100 caches in a day, when doing several leaves us pooped (but satisfied).

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We have tried to do the numbers run thing a couple of times. For us it doesn't work. After a handful of finds we have always decided it just isn't fun. To each his own but we prefer to find caches that take us to a spot we can enjoy even if the cache wasn't there. I know, for some that IS Wally World or Micky D's.

 

So Harry Dolphin, about that 130 cache you found, how long did you spend on it? For me, and not saying it is the same for anyone else, 130 caches in a day would not leave enough time to enjoy the cool places they may lead. See those place maybe, but not enjoy them. 130 caches over a weeks vacation would be a different story.

 

Okay. Here's the breakdown: 8 caches in New Jersey before heading to Maine. 8 caches on the way to my sister's - Mass, NH and Me. Then 6 days wandering about Maine and New Brunswick: 17, 20, 14, 30, 15 & 4. (Yes. The numbers hos had to go caching in Canada!) 1 in Vermont on the way home. The other 13 caches were for the rest of the month. 4 days: 4 in NY, 1 in PA, 6 in NJ, and 2 in CT including the maze exhibit. No. I cannot remember all of the caches. Yes. This was the most interesting way actually to see Maine. And we did see some very beautiful places, including the 2 hour ferry ride to Vinalhaven (and 2 hours back), and a half hour to find the cache. :D

 

I spent a week in that area last August and will be back for the first week in July. We didn't make it over to Vinalhaven (I know there there at least 3 caches on the island) but made to to Mt. Battie and grabbed the cache there. I also enjoyed grabbing the caches at the Delorme facility in Yarmouth, ME on the way home.

 

I find it difficult to try to grab to many caches while travel. Six hours on the road is about the extent of what my son will tolerate. As it was, we stayed in hotels at two different locations on the way back to Ithaca.

 

Traveling, by itself doesn't produce lots of numbers. I got 33 in a day (my highest total by almost a dozen) whien in Mountain View on business but I'll most likely be traveling on business in March and, unless I spend a layover day in Rome, will probably get one cache during the trip. But that one is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

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The biggest factor I have noticed is that you have to care so deeply about your find count that it becomes a top priority. In doing this you accept that there are some sacrifices in Geocaching (and in life) that you will have to make to amass thousands of finds. Here's just a few common factors I've noticed are common in folks that that have large find counts.

 

1. Your creed: Any cache is a good cache. You target, enjoy, and in some cases promote the proliferation of quick and easy, park and grab type caches.

2. Be highly organized.

3. Be paperless.

4. Past a few thousand finds a year, have no other hobbies or interests that come with a time commitment.

5. Be consistent and persistent in your hunting.

6. Set goals for numbers of finds.

7. Compete with others Geocachers for numbers of finds.

8. Use and master the basic software and tools on GC.com.

 

Numbers 2 and 5 apply to me but none of the rest...

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My wife and I cache every Saturday . That is "our" time together and we put in a full day. We may also go after a puzzle cache or multi on a Sunday. We are trying to average 100+ caches a month and so far so good since we started trying again. Took some summer months off but never again.....for now.

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When I see 4-digit find totals accompaning a Find log like this: I looked around a bit, must be missing so I put out a replacement, or this: I'm pretty sure I found where it was supposed to be, so I'm logging it as a find, then I figure a good deal that total is garbage.

 

Not every high-total player plays that way. And it's a lot easier if you live in a high density area. I've got a thousand caches within an 11 mile radius of me.

 

I have only cached in a few states but now having spent a bit of time here in Tx I would say they do everythring BIG here. There are so many big series every where here I can see how the numbers add up fast. It is nothing to find a road with 20 caches on it..... then find one with a hundred. This is the place to vaction cache... but remeber that they have huge poision ivy tree, snakes,ants, spiders and plants that bit. Plus it gets hot and humid at times. So I would do a bit of planning but is well worth it lots of history and pretty places. I don't know if there are any other states that do this on such a big scale? That would be an interesting topic. Personally every cache is a happy dance and haven't done to many of the big ones here not sure we will before we leave, which is ok as there will be another cache on down the road, calling to us.

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Back in 2003 my goal was to find 1 cache a week. The only other cacher I knew at that time told me that was really stretching myself and would require lots of travel out of this area. These days, I regularly see cachers rack up 50 to 100 in just 2 or 3 days within 40 miles of here.

 

On the flip side - I have been doing this 1 day over 7 years and have yet to reach 800 finds. But I have sure enjoyed the stories that go with most of those.

 

Oh, I'm sure almost all of those 2,000+ cache finders you see are almost all legitimate. :D An excellent point here, that doesn't get too much attention. In 2003, I was absolutely caching my arse off, finding everything in sight, (and not just locally, some business travel too) and got maybe 220 in the first year. Nowadays, I can't even count on both hands the number of people I've seen go over 1,000 in less than a year. This all depends on cache density of course, but there are many cache dense areas out there.

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Time, cache density, not willing to skip a cache even though you don't care for that kind of hide, go paperless, and make some "family day's" caching trip's. There's nothing like caching for some good family bonding.

 

I don't think there's really any secret to it, just how much time your willing to spend in this hobby. But I've found over time, those number of find's don't really mean much when I go back and think about all the good time's I've had and neat places I've seen thanks to caches.

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I don't think there's really any secret to it, just how much time your willing to spend in this hobby. But I've found over time, those number of find's don't really mean much when I go back and think about all the good time's I've had and neat places I've seen thanks to caches.
Well said. All I remember are all the fun times and places I have been. I went through a couple of years of going bananas, and it kind of burned me out. So I've actually reverted back to caching the same way I started. It's just fun to find a few good ones. :D
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The biggest factor I have noticed is that you have to care so deeply about your find count that it becomes a top priority. In doing this you accept that there are some sacrifices in Geocaching (and in life) that you will have to make to amass thousands of finds. Here's just a few common factors I've noticed are common in folks that that have large find counts.

 

1. Your creed: Any cache is a good cache. You target, enjoy, and in some cases promote the proliferation of quick and easy, park and grab type caches.

2. Be highly organized.

3. Be paperless.

4. Past a few thousand finds a year, have no other hobbies or interests that come with a time commitment.

5. Be consistent and persistent in your hunting.

6. Set goals for numbers of finds.

7. Compete with others Geocachers for numbers of finds.

8. Use and master the basic software and tools on GC.com.

 

Numbers 2 and 5 apply to me but none of the rest...

 

Looking at your profile, you really don't fit the the type of cacher that I was describing since your finds seem to be spread out over 7 years. The only thing that surprises me a little is that you are not paperless.

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Many cachers here put in a lot of suggestions. Many are true.

One being a premium member has it's perks.

Having a PDA also helps. (just don't lose it like I lost 3 and broke 1)

Plan out an area you want to cache, and a route.

Research the area for DNF's, maintenance and archive requests, and old caches that haven't been found in a long while, and if they are being watched (some cachers don't log DNFs they watch them instead...guilty).

Long hikes really cut into your time.

So do multis and some puzzles.

Check for terrain and difficulty ratings.

Going with a buddy really helps with the search.

Bring necessary equipment. Extra batteries, flashlight, multi purpose tools, extra logs and baggies for replacements, extra clothes, first aid, writing instruments (different kinds for different log materials) notebook for notes, camera, food and water.

Racking numbers is fun, challenging but remember the difference between Quantity and Quality.

Sometimes it is good to just to take your time and look at where these caches are taking you to and why.

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The biggest factor I have noticed is that you have to care so deeply about your find count that it becomes a top priority. In doing this you accept that there are some sacrifices in Geocaching (and in life) that you will have to make to amass thousands of finds. Here's just a few common factors I've noticed are common in folks that that have large find counts.

 

1. Your creed: Any cache is a good cache. You target, enjoy, and in some cases promote the proliferation of quick and easy, park and grab type caches.

2. Be highly organized.

3. Be paperless.

4. Past a few thousand finds a year, have no other hobbies or interests that come with a time commitment.

5. Be consistent and persistent in your hunting.

6. Set goals for numbers of finds.

7. Compete with others Geocachers for numbers of finds.

8. Use and master the basic software and tools on GC.com.

 

Numbers 2 and 5 apply to me but none of the rest...

 

Looking at your profile, you really don't fit the the type of cacher that I was describing since your finds seem to be spread out over 7 years. The only thing that surprises me a little is that you are not paperless.

 

Tough to be both GPS-less and paperless :laughing:

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The biggest factor I have noticed is that you have to care so deeply about your find count that it becomes a top priority. In doing this you accept that there are some sacrifices in Geocaching (and in life) that you will have to make to amass thousands of finds. Here's just a few common factors I've noticed are common in folks that that have large find counts.

 

1. Your creed: Any cache is a good cache. You target, enjoy, and in some cases promote the proliferation of quick and easy, park and grab type caches.

2. Be highly organized.

3. Be paperless.

4. Past a few thousand finds a year, have no other hobbies or interests that come with a time commitment.

5. Be consistent and persistent in your hunting.

6. Set goals for numbers of finds.

7. Compete with others Geocachers for numbers of finds.

8. Use and master the basic software and tools on GC.com.

 

Numbers 2 and 5 apply to me but none of the rest...

 

Looking at your profile, you really don't fit the the type of cacher that I was describing since your finds seem to be spread out over 7 years. The only thing that surprises me a little is that you are not paperless.

 

Tough to be both GPS-less and paperless :laughing:

 

You mean you actually look at the website and print things out? In seven years, you'd think you would have developed at little more intuition than that.

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snip:

 

OK, so what's the secret? I'm suspecting some fibbing going on here....... (kidding) :laughing:

 

The biggest factor I have noticed is that you have to care so deeply about your find count that it becomes a top priority. In doing this you accept that there are some sacrifices in Geocaching (and in life) that you will have to make to amass thousands of finds. Here's just a few common factors I've noticed are common in folks that that have large find counts.

 

1. Your creed: Any cache is a good cache. You target, enjoy, and in some cases promote the proliferation of quick and easy, park and grab type caches.

2. Be highly organized.

3. Be paperless.

4. Past a few thousand finds a year, have no other hobbies or interests that come with a time commitment.

5. Be consistent and persistent in your hunting.

6. Set goals for numbers of finds.

7. Compete with others Geocachers for numbers of finds.

8. Use and master the basic software and tools on GC.com.

 

I will respond to your ideas. I have been a member since 2002 but only had 28 finds before January 2006. So in a little over 3 years I have found 4000 caches. Regarding the "common factors" mentioned above:

1. No, not all caches are good caches to me. However, I generally pick an area to go caching for specific caches. While in that area I find the ones I want to and then with my remaining time I find the others. I love people that will not search for certain caches because they are micro or the terrain is not high enough. I have found a lot of caches that were a micro in a little pocket park but the park has a lot of historical plaques to read. I have also hiked a mile down a trail to find a soggy mess of mush in a cracked tupperware that stinks like a rotting carcass. Hmm, which one of those 2 would you prefer to find? Me: Both as I learned something from the micro and I got to hike in the woods for wrecked cache.

2. I am pretty organized but have forgot to download caches to my PALM a few times and still found quite a few with just coords. Also, more then once have forgot to download the auto routing maps to the GPS.

3. Without a doubt this is necessary to some degree. However, I feel even bigger is having routing software on your GPS. This is a huge time saver and money saver despite sometimes leading you astray.

4. No I spend a lot of time on another hobby- playing poker

5. Not necessarily. Being persistent sometimes leads to frustration when searching. When away from home I search until it stops being fun and then move along. Also, I have returned home or done something else after driving 1-2 hours to an area after hitting a string of DNF. I stop when I stop having fun.

6. Yes, I had a goal once to find 100 finds in a day- I did with some good friends and had a memorable day. We found 117 finds in about 12 hours. I also hiked 14.39 miles in one day to find 1 cache. It was a memorable cache and I passed up some other caches that day because it was about that one cache.

7. I do not compete with anyone for finds. What competition is going on that I do not know about. Of my 4000+ finds; My signature or requirements for each cache (virtuals and such) is on every one of them. All unique finds.

8. I use GSAK and cachemate but by no means am a master at the software. I actually dislike using the computer and do as little as possible to get by.

 

With all that said, I will say that I am single and spend a lot of my weekends caching. I also routinely plan my time off around geocaching. However, this is not a bad thing as I enjoy caching and therefore that is what I do in my free time. Sorry, for the rant but it appears to me that everyone thinks that just because you have high numbers you must be cheating to some degree.

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i've found more than a few.

 

1. Your creed: Any cache is a good cache. You target, enjoy, and in some cases promote the proliferation of quick and easy, park and grab type caches.

 

nonsense.

 

2. Be highly organized.

 

not even remotely. wherever i'm going is where i'm going.

 

3. Be paperless.

 

ok.

 

4. Past a few thousand finds a year, have no other hobbies or interests that come with a time commitment.

 

well, i've got this thing about skiing, downhill and xc. and biking, road and mountain. and there's this little thing about writing and playing music. there are games i have to play, and some other stuff.

 

5. Be consistent and persistent in your hunting.

 

sometimes i get distracted from hunting and spend an hour or two taking pictures of pretty rocks.

 

6. Set goals for numbers of finds.

 

yeah, but i always seem to get distracted...

 

7. Compete with others Geocachers for numbers of finds.

 

not on your life. people can try to be in competition with me, but the more they try, the more wildly inaccurate my find count will be. it is my habit to routinely under-report my cache finds.

 

8. Use and master the basic software and tools on GC.com.

 

well, sort of. i have brain damage, so i keep forgetting how and have to re-learn anything i don't do every day.

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When I see 4-digit find totals accompaning a Find log like this: I looked around a bit, must be missing so I put out a replacement, or this: I'm pretty sure I found where it was supposed to be, so I'm logging it as a find, then I figure a good deal that total is garbage.

 

Not every high-total player plays that way. And it's a lot easier if you live in a high density area. I've got a thousand caches within an 11 mile radius of me.

 

I had a few such logs on one of my caches today. It really makes me lose faith in the caching community. The logs basically say they couldn't find the cache but what the heck I know I was in the neighborhood.

 

If people just want to get close they can play GPS mission. That game requires no logging and you just have to get close. Seems the perfect game for folks who can't afford to lose. :)

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Sorry, for the rant but it appears to me that everyone thinks that just because you have high numbers you must be cheating to some degree.

 

No worries, I hope you didn't think that I was saying that high find counts automatically means you are cheating. I've seen it first hand and have a few pretty extraordinary examples of it so I know it happens but it didn't make my list for a reason. I don't think people do it that often.

 

I also didn't say that you had to do -everything- I my list, those were some observations that I had made of the habits of people who do have a high find count. Looks like a few of them do apply to you though.

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i've found more than a few.

 

1. Your creed: Any cache is a good cache. You target, enjoy, and in some cases promote the proliferation of quick and easy, park and grab type caches.

 

nonsense.

 

2. Be highly organized.

 

not even remotely. wherever i'm going is where i'm going.

 

3. Be paperless.

 

ok.

 

4. Past a few thousand finds a year, have no other hobbies or interests that come with a time commitment.

 

well, i've got this thing about skiing, downhill and xc. and biking, road and mountain. and there's this little thing about writing and playing music. there are games i have to play, and some other stuff.

 

5. Be consistent and persistent in your hunting.

 

sometimes i get distracted from hunting and spend an hour or two taking pictures of pretty rocks.

 

6. Set goals for numbers of finds.

 

yeah, but i always seem to get distracted...

 

7. Compete with others Geocachers for numbers of finds.

 

not on your life. people can try to be in competition with me, but the more they try, the more wildly inaccurate my find count will be. it is my habit to routinely under-report my cache finds.

 

8. Use and master the basic software and tools on GC.com.

 

well, sort of. i have brain damage, so i keep forgetting how and have to re-learn anything i don't do every day.

 

It looks like I am striking a nerve unintentionally with some thousand plus finders with my posted list. I suppose I might have added that most of the cachers that I've become familiar with that have thousands of finds, did it in 2-3 years. I'd put you right in there with Ed Scot. Seven years of caching with any consistency is a long time in Geocaching years.

 

Most of the people I was observing amassed thousands of caches in a much shorter time period. My list as it was just a list of things that I have observed in these people. It was not meant to ruffle feathers nor was it intended to describe one specific individuals Geocaching habits.

 

Also, reread #4 again. "Past a few thousand finds a year"

Edited by Team GeoBlast
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