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Hint Protocol


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I have only been caching for a couple of months and recently found several cache's in a series. Today I got an email from someone that was asking for hints about the cache's because they have been unable to locate. There are no hints provided by the CO and honestly are fairly difficult. I can understand giving a friend a hint, but a complete stranger I am not sure what is the standard protocol.

 

Thanks

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I dont think there is any sort of protocol for giving hints to people. I would suggest that you refer the person to the CO if you feel uncomfortable giving a hint. I can also understand why you wouldnt want to help the person out, because you went through the effort to find it w/o the hint, so should they...but giving a friendly hint to a fellow cacher is a good way to make friends as well : )

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I would direct him to the CO and let him decide whether or not he wants to give out a hint.

 

...but giving a friendly hint to a fellow cacher is a good way to make friends as well : )

 

and it may also be a good way to tick off the cache owner.

Edited by briansnat
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For the Cache Owner...

 

Leave a good hint or none at all.

 

Deciphering "At the base of a tree" for a cache in dense forest does no one any good.

 

And deciphering "Sorry, no hint for you!" is just aggravating.

 

For the cache seeker...

 

Ask for a hint if you can't find it.

 

For geocachers overall...

 

If asked for a hint, unless you specifically know that the owner does not want hints given, give the seeker a hint!

Edited by TheAlabamaRambler
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Leave a good hint or none at all.

 

Deciphering "At the base of a tree" for a cache in dense forest does no one any good.

 

And deciphering "Sorry, no hint for you!" is just aggravating.

 

True on both accounts, but depending upon the attitude of the CO, it could be the CO expects the finder to earn the smiley, rather than accumulate a lot of smileys on the log.

 

I've a couple hides which are devious and I had no problem with making the cachers work for the smiley. I even go so far as to poke fun at the finder in the hint. It's 3 stars for a reason.

 

I'm not so crazy, though, to do an evil hide in the hinterlands. If I say it's out in the woods it's not going to require rocket science or CSI skillz to find it. It'll be in the hollow tree, under the laying of sticks or in a pile of rocks. Not inside a pinecone in a pile of 500 pinecones.

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I have only been caching for a couple of months and recently found several cache's in a series. Today I got an email from someone that was asking for hints about the cache's because they have been unable to locate. There are no hints provided by the CO and honestly are fairly difficult. I can understand giving a friend a hint, but a complete stranger I am not sure what is the standard protocol.

 

Thanks

 

I had this same thing happen toi me about a month ago, I had known about this cacher but had never really spoke to him. So one day he emailed me asking for a hint on a cache that I had found. Told him that he needs to contact the cache Owner.

 

Scubasonic

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One advantage I have is that I've met dang near all the local cachers, and I've spoken with them quite a bit regarding all manner of caching related stuff. This has given me a pretty fair idea regarding which cache owners are OK with third party hints and which are not. I like to respect these boundaries. If I know a cache owner doesn't mind, I'll be as helpful as the seeker wishes, from a nudge to a spoiler. If I know the cache owner doesn't like this, I'll refer the seeker to them for further assistance, with maybe a ever so slight nudge, such as "My coords were 15' west" or "It's a tough hide. My GPSr put me right on top of it. You really gotta hunt for it". If I don't know the cache owner, I err on the side of caution, opting for the second option.

 

The locals all know me as a member of the first option.

I don't care how you find my caches, so long as you enjoy yourself while doing so.

Edited by Clan Riffster
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One advantage I have is that I've met dang near all the local cachers, and I've spoken with them quite a bit regarding all manner of caching related stuff. This has given me a pretty fair idea regarding which cache owners are OK with third party hints and which are not. I like to respect these boundaries. If I know a cache owner doesn't mind, I'll be as helpful as the seeker wishes, from a nudge to a spoiler. If I know the cache owner doesn't like this, I'll refer the seeker to them for further assistance, with maybe a ever so slight nudge, such as "My coords were 15' west" or "It's a tough hide. My GPSr put me right on top of it. You really gotta hunt for it". If I don't know the cache owner, I err on the side of caution, opting for the second option.

 

The locals all know me as a member of the first option.

I don't care how you find my caches, so long as you enjoy yourself while doing so.

Having found a number of caches by the same hider often gives away their style of hide, unless they have a fit of creativity and suddenly change their mode.

 

The worse to find are those hidden by people who only have a handful of hides, who could be quite creative and they aren't active anymore and the finds are very spotty, with a few DNFs between finds. They can be quite maddening.

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Another important consideration on giving hints on caches that you don't own would be whether the cache owner still seems to be active.

(Caches aren't normally archived just because owner is no longer active or responding, caches ARE archived when there is a problem AND the owner is no longer active or responding.)

Just a thought. . .

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