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another geo etiquette question


scidawg

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Another etiquette question.....we are pretty new to this. On our second day of caching, as we approached GZ of the cache we were hunting in a local park, there were 2 people standing right around where my GPSr was pointing to as GZ. They were trying to look nonchalant, assuming we were muggles hiking the trail. I said you should be standing right on top of it, and we all proceeded to hunt together, with me finding it. Did I do the right thing, or should we have just walked on by giving them time to complete their hunt. Turns out later reading the log, that it was their very first one.

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Another etiquette question.....we are pretty new to this. On our second day of caching, as we approached GZ of the cache we were hunting in a local park, there were 2 people standing right around where my GPSr was pointing to as GZ. They were trying to look nonchalant, assuming we were muggles hiking the trail. I said you should be standing right on top of it, and we all proceeded to hunt together, with me finding it. Did I do the right thing, or should we have just walked on by giving them time to complete their hunt. Turns out later reading the log, that it was their very first one.

You did exactly what I would have done. Welcome to the fun!

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You did fine. Nothing wrong with meeting up with other cachers on the trails and searching together.

It's a great way to meet new caching friends. I've met some of my best caching friends this way.

Some folks may prefer to hunt alone. I think you would find that most are happy to join up with others for the search and maybe make some new friends.

 

We never mind anyone else joining us on our searches. It sure helps keep the DNF blues away with more eyes looking. I think if you had run into someone who wanted to search alone, they would have found a way to let you know that, or would have made an excuse to go off by themselves and return alone later.

If someone lets you know they would rather search alone, don't take it personally. Some folks would rather rent a move and watch it at home. Some would rather go to the theater for the 'crowd experience'.

Just personal preference.

However, I'll say in our 2+ years of experiences, we haven't run into anyone yet who preferred to search alone.

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I usually say something like 'Ahh.. I bet I know what you are doing", while waving my GPSr in an obvious way. I tell them, "you guys go ahead, I will wait over here" and I go away 50 feet or so. Some people want to make the find themselves. If I jumped in and I suddenly show i found it, some folks feel that they did not find it. Also, have met people caching together where one just suddenly walks away upon spying the cache and once they are a bit away they announce to the other they know where it is but will still sit aside allowing the partner to also find it on their own.

 

I always allow the cachers on-site before me the right to privacy and after all, they were there first. The worst etiquette blunder is probably to jump in with others when they are onsite before you and it could be a First To Find situation. Some encroaching cachers have been known to claim a "share" in the FTF. Oh wow....

 

Anyway... Guess I feel the first to arrive have the call on privacy and we who happen upon them should respect their right to do the cache as they wish. Politeness and respect are still in fashion...

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Another etiquette question.....we are pretty new to this. On our second day of caching, as we approached GZ of the cache we were hunting in a local park, there were 2 people standing right around where my GPSr was pointing to as GZ. They were trying to look nonchalant, assuming we were muggles hiking the trail. I said you should be standing right on top of it, and we all proceeded to hunt together, with me finding it. Did I do the right thing, or should we have just walked on by giving them time to complete their hunt. Turns out later reading the log, that it was their very first one.

You did exactly what I would have done. Welcome to the fun!

Yes, you did exactly what I usually do. In fact, I did pretty much that while finding a cache in Battery Park lower Manhattan with my friend Jennie a couple of months ago, in late December of 2008. We were just reaching for the cache at the MiB hide site when we noticed a young couple acting kinda strange on the sidewalk nearby. They were trying so very hard to act like tourists, but something was amiss, and they were both holding GPSrs but trying hard to pretend that they were cell phones. And they were kinda fidgeting and looking at us out of the corner of their eyes. I finished my grab for the cache, and then Jennie and I asked them if they were geocachers. They sheepishly admitted that they were, and we all introduced ourselves -- they turned out to be visitors from the Czech Republic, and their geonames were Kackac and Lidor88. We all shared the find and then had a good time talking for a few minutes afterward.

 

I assume, however, that meeting a real live Vinny at a cache hide site was likely more than enough reason for them to decide to abandon geocaching then and there! ...oh, well!

 

.

 

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You handled the situation just fine. It's always best to ask before just joining in. Some cachers are not as social as others. But meeting cachers on the trail is always a special treat. Just be careful how you phrase your inquiry. "Are you looking for the same thing I am" could possibly be taken the wrong way in some caching locations. :blink:

 

I assume, however, that meeting a real live Vinny at a cache hide site was likely more than enough reason for them to decide to abandon geocaching then and there! ...oh, well!

Quite possibly. I doubt I will ever attend another Masonic Temple event. :rolleyes:

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Nah, you need to have some fun with it. Hide your GPS and walk over, and say, 'y'all lose something?' Proceed to make it awkward for them for a few minutes, then pull out your GPS.

 

 

Now that's funny, why didn't I think of that

 

Thanks for all the replies

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You handled the situation just fine. It's always best to ask before just joining in. Some cachers are not as social as others. But meeting cachers on the trail is always a special treat. Just be careful how you phrase your inquiry. "Are you looking for the same thing I am" could possibly be taken the wrong way in some caching locations. :blink:

 

I assume, however, that meeting a real live Vinny at a cache hide site was likely more than enough reason for them to decide to abandon geocaching then and there! ...oh, well!

Quite possibly. I doubt I will ever attend another Masonic Temple event. :rolleyes:

Shhh! ....shush! No one here knows that I was there! It's kind of a secret.

Edited by Vinny & Sue Team
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The worst etiquette blunder is probably to jump in with others when they are onsite before you and it could be a First To Find situation.

All the more reason to start searching!

 

We've never met any cachers who were less than social. Most have been very happy to meet other cachers and some have become good friends. Only once has another cacher approached as we made a find and didn't want to claim it as a find because they now knew where the cache was hidden. We thought it was kind of silly, but to each his own... Jeez... It was an ammo box under a foot bridge. I'm pretty sure they would have found it.

 

We mistook a couple of muggles for cachers once, but that's a different story.

 

Never met a Vinny at a cache site, either. They seem to be pretty rare.

Edited by Team Black-Cat
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I have only met with other cachers while on the hunt twice. Once it was because it was on their property and they were being friendly as well as they had the site decorated. It was a very pleasurable experience. I can honestly say that some of the nicest people I know I met through caching or on the forums.

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I've only met other geocachers once when out hunting. I was about to abandon the hunt because I thought they were muggles, then saw one of them holding a GPSr. I greeted them and we hunted for it together.

 

I assume, however, that meeting a real live Vinny at a cache hide site was likely more than enough reason for them to decide to abandon geocaching then and there! ...oh, well!

 

Thank goodness you're on the other coast. On the other hand, this may be the answer to Geocachers Anonymous...

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