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The cache that you just can't find?


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I'm fairy new...but so far, I've found every cache that I've gone after but one. It's literally driving me crazy! I've gone to the place 4 times trying to find it. What do you do in these circumstances? Is it wrong to ask the owner for a clue? I want to cross it off my list...most importantly I just want to know where the bugger is! Advice?

 

Thanks!

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I agree...most cache owners are very good about helping other cachers. I'm embarrassed to say, I have a difficulty 1 cache that has eluded me after several visits...my next step is to swallow my pride and ask the owner for help :anitongue: Good luck in your quest and welcome to the adventure :laughing:

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Start a thread and rant about some cache owner's inability to rate their hides correctly. The other part that you need to do is leave out part of the information (like 200 other people before you, and 10 since, have no problem finding the cache).

 

:anitongue:

 

(Seriously, though, 9Key's post is pretty much what I'd have done)

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Yes, I have a 1/1 cache I've been to twice and still can't find it. It's a micro but others don't seem to have a problem.

 

The one thing I would make sure you do is mark it as DNF. If everyone did that when they really don't find them it would give the CO a better idea if they need to up the difficulty.

 

Good luck! Not sure if I'd ask for a hint, but if one was handed to me I'm pretty sure I'd use it! :anitongue:

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I'm fairy new...but so far, I've found every cache that I've gone after but one. It's literally driving me crazy! I've gone to the place 4 times trying to find it. What do you do in these circumstances? Is it wrong to ask the owner for a clue? I want to cross it off my list...most importantly I just want to know where the bugger is! Advice?

 

Thanks!

 

Perhaps you are going back too soon? I put my DNFs on a list. Every now and then I pull out the list and think about them again. I read my DNF description. I look at the photos I uploaded to my DNF log. Then I go after other caches. Eventually I will find something in another cache that will give me a new strategy to try in one of the DNFs. Then I rush back to the DNF with my new idea and try that.

 

I'm not just spinning my mental wheels. I'm approaching this tactically. I don't have to win every battle today. I will eventually wear my DNFs down until they surrender to me. It's a battle of attrition. My knowledge base of hiding techniques continues to grow and I become better. Meanwhile, that cache can never get more difficult. I shall prevail, but it takes a while with some of them.

 

Carolyn

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I had one of those. I think I logged 5 or 6 DNFs over a period of several months. It was archived before I could finish it. Some people seemed to have a hard time with it but others found it quite easily which made it all the more frustrating.

 

That was early in my caching days when I felt I had to find every cache I looked for. Today I would search once or twice then forget about it.

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First thing I do is set a time limit. If I can't find it, don't let it stand in the way of seeking out other caches.

 

I have come back to one and found it on the 3rd try. The key then was to realise I'm in the vicinity, now put down the GPSr and use my eyes and 'cache sense' to find it. (If I were a cache hidden around here, what would I look like? Where would I be hidden?)

 

Some are just so devious you don't stand a chance if you keep looking at the pointer and wondering why it doesn't just spring out of the ground for you.

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We're also new and I totally understand the feeling. I don't like feeling "defeated" by a cache we can't find - and two of them are seriously driving me up a wall right now. And we sometimes have all four of us looking at the same time and still come up empty handed. I had wondered if it would be ok to ask the CO for a clue - so glad to hear we can do that, but I'm going to try a couple more times first. I'm stubborn like that. :anibad:

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I just pay geofinders.com people to find the caches for me and then they log my name in the log book.

 

Kidding... But seriously, I wonder if I could start that business...

 

For a small fee, I'd find the cache you can't find... Log your username and you could move on, all discrete of course, it's not like I'd post on this forum that you couldn't find a 1/1 LARGE geocache or anything.....

 

:anibad:

 

Oh, and I'm stuck on a simple cache that others can find too..... B)

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Ask for a hint. From the owner, from previous finders, from whomever will respond. There's no shame in that - we've all done it. And as the proud owner of my first three caches, I would have no problem giving a hint to anyone who asked me. I would actually consider it flattering.

 

And consider another thing: if you're feeling a bit sheepish because you seem to be the only one who can't find it, don't. I'm firmly convinced that 80% of DNF's are never logged.

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Thanks everyone! I went ahead and emailed the CO...got a very quick, and excited reply with hint. Sure enough, it was where I thought it was! I went out this morning, and nabbed the little nano! You're right...in the end...there are going to be those DNF's that just happen. I guess this one was just frustrating because I drive by it EVERY single day!!

It WAS a 1/1 also...which really made me feel even more pathetic! But I did log it as a DNF before...then logged in again as found. I think you're right..there probably ARE a lot of DNF's not logged.

 

Thanks again everyone!

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Ask for a hint. From the owner, from previous finders, from whomever will respond. There's no shame in that - we've all done it.
Not quite all, Boneman. See the sig below. I've had one CO supply an unsolicited hint after a DNF where I swore to return with a metal detector to find his buried Altoids tin :D , but apart from that, I've run a "clean" show. I've even DNFd a few that were really gone, and had the owner reply with a "I've replaced it, log it if you like since you were in the right place". I return to sign those as well.

 

Removing those "unfound" blemishes from my geomap isn't a "right" in my book. Just the way I play the game. As a result, there are still a few "nemesis" caches out there waiting for another visit. I'll DNF it if I've done a proper search, put it on my Watch list, and see if someone else makes a find. If they do, I'll haul back out for another try.

 

Unless you just want the number, or can't stand that unfound cache icon, the game becomes you vs. the cache owner vs. the cache vs. the weather vs. the terrain.... which seems to be what the guys who started all of this had in mind. I think I'd find the whole thing pretty boring if I was always assured of a find via lifeline.

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Thanks everyone! I went ahead and emailed the CO...got a very quick, and excited reply with hint. Sure enough, it was where I thought it was! I went out this morning, and nabbed the little nano! You're right...in the end...there are going to be those DNF's that just happen. I guess this one was just frustrating because I drive by it EVERY single day!!

It WAS a 1/1 also...which really made me feel even more pathetic! But I did log it as a DNF before...then logged in again as found. I think you're right..there probably ARE a lot of DNF's not logged.

 

Thanks again everyone!

 

In my experience, finding a cache after you've DNF'd it a couple of times is often more satisfying then finding it the first time you look.

 

There was one near me that I think I DNF'd 7-8 times before I finally found it. My first excuse was that my GPS just wouldn't settle down in the area and there were lots of spots where it could be hidden. I gave up the search a coupld of times due to too many muggles (it's near a very scenic waterfall in the area. Then there were a couple of times when the snow was deep. Then it got muggled and was moved to another hiding spot. I DNFd it *twice* in the new location before I finally searched for it one day and found it withing 2 minutes of arriving at the area.

 

Although you got quick help on this one, you'll sometimes find that some caches are meant to be really hard to find and owners will withhold any hints (and ask others not to share any hints). That's all part of the game. Some caches are meant to be easy finds. Some are meant to be a real challenge.

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I think a lot of caches out there have gone missing. Been following a few one star caches that all of a sudden for the past month or so can't be found. You would think the owners would be concerned enough to go out check and update the cache.
You might check the owner's profile to see if they've disappeared. I've run across several caches where the DNFs were piling up, checked and found the owner hadn't logged into geocaching.com for a year, and recommended that the caches be archived. That frees up the space for a new cache.
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I had a nano like that. Looked 4-5 times. I was in the right spot, must of had my hand on it, but never saw/felt it.

 

I cleared off a DNF today. I had looked twice before. My GPS had me about 50-60 feet from the proper GZ. I used the hint the previous times, and felt I had searched under every rock in the park. Spent a good 30 minutes total. I take 10 steps out of the car today and spot it in under a minute. That's part of the fun and aggravation.

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Thanks everyone! I went ahead and emailed the CO...got a very quick, and excited reply with hint. Sure enough, it was where I thought it was! I went out this morning, and nabbed the little nano! You're right...in the end...there are going to be those DNF's that just happen. I guess this one was just frustrating because I drive by it EVERY single day!!

It WAS a 1/1 also...which really made me feel even more pathetic! But I did log it as a DNF before...then logged in again as found. I think you're right..there probably ARE a lot of DNF's not logged.

 

Thanks again everyone!

 

I'm really glad you were able to find that lil stickler! Sometimes the forums ARE useful :)

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