Jump to content

Caught in the Act


Recommended Posts

Hey all!

So, I was out looking for a micro in a park today after having a nice lunch with my father... My GPS was pointing me straight to a set of buses next to a van. The parking lot was not too busy, but a baseball game had just let out, so the teams were skill hanging around. Trying to be stealthy, I sat down on the edge of the sidewal next to the bushes, and acted like I was waiting for someone. As soon as they left, I scramble to the bushes and begin getting into the buses to look. I am searching everywhere, moving rocks, getting scratches, and being generally sketchy in terms of my actions. Not a big deal, right? Well it turns out that there was a lady in the van who was taking a nap... I only realized this once she opened the door and gave me one of those "By the way, I am here" Coughs. :o Not knowing what to do (Having never been caught half-way into shrubbery before) I quickly stood up, grabbed my purse, brushed off my dress, and left.

 

So, have any of you ever been caught in the act of Geocaching, let your stealth down, or in general make those around you worry about your mental whereabouts before?

Link to comment

So, have any of you ever been caught in the act of Geocaching, let your stealth down, or in general make those around you worry about your mental whereabouts before?

 

(((NOTE: Be nice, my first post))

 

YES...today!

 

I am new at this hobby (3 days!) and was in Palm Springs for the CUE Conference--mostly IT types (read: nerds & geeks). At lunch, I just happened to check and I see that there are two right around my location. I zeroed in on one in a rock/cactus garden across the street and am trying to look as inconspicuous as possible--I mean who wants to be looked down upon like the biggest geek at a geek conference???

 

Anyway, I focused in on the statue of a woman and her child and as I was copping a feel searching all over on the woman statue, I hear a shuffling behind me and, to my horror, two women from the conference gaped at me and hurried past giving me the "stare of destruction".

 

My humiliation lasted only until I found the cache!

Link to comment

We had been finishing up a multi, and the final was behind a fire department. I saw it in the bushes, and pointed it out to my wife, who went in for. She pulls it out onto the sidewalk, next to the member entrance for the fire department. As she sits there, opening up this .50 cal ammo can, a fire fighter comes out the door, asks if we need help, and see her sitting there struggling with the can. dry.gif I quickly explained it to him, his Lt, the Captain, and then the Chief what geocaching was.cool.gif

 

Now I work closely with them and they remind me of this moment occasionally!

Link to comment

Unfortunately I made a huge mistake on one a couple days ago.

Slightly long story. Basically, during a wet day around noon I went geocaching in a forest behind some houses...while wearing a bright red hoodie and my backpack. So, not stealthy at all. While trying to put the stubborn lid on the cache, I heard two guys approaching on a trail on the other side of the foliage. Unfortunately, being...bright red, I was spotted.

 

One guy simply said, "Hey there! What's up?"

At first without thinking I said, "Nothing much, you?"

There was a bit of awkward silence in between and I realized how suspicious it would be to find somebody with a bright red hoodie and a backpack in a forest behind a bunch of houses...So I added, "Just...geocaching..."

I didn't want to lie to them in case they decided to investigate the spot later and would discover the little container. They just responded with, "Oh, okay." and left.

Edited by Techen
Link to comment

Unfortunately I made a huge mistake on one a couple days ago.

Slightly long story. Basically, during a wet day around noon I went geocaching in a forest behind some houses...while wearing a bright red hoodie and my backpack. So, not stealthy at all. While trying to put the stubborn lid on the cache, I heard two guys approaching on a trail on the other side of the foliage. Unfortunately, being...bright red, I was spotted.

 

One guy simply said, "Hey there! What's up?"

At first without thinking I said, "Nothing much, you?"

There was a bit of awkward silence in between and I realized how suspicious it would be to find somebody with a bright red hoodie and a backpack in a forest behind a bunch of houses...So I added, "Just...geocaching..."

I didn't want to lie to them in case they decided to investigate the spot later and would discover the little container. They just responded with, "Oh, okay." and left.

 

next time try asking "hey man, got any toilet paper?"

Link to comment

Ive been caught in the act many times, but I usually just ignore people around me when Im trying to find the cache unless they actually come up to me and ask. the only time it was awkward for me was this one cache that was in front of someones house on a telephone pole! I went at night...late at night, and I had my flashlight and I was just going about my business and I figured the home owner was asleep but he actually just got home and parked right in front of his house, got out and asked if there was a problem. Now I forgot to mention that I was with my 3 other friends and they booked it down the street when the car pulled up in front of the house, but like I said before I ignore everyone when searching so I stayed there stubborn. I told him that my friends and I are searching for something that is hidden in this area, a geocache. I apologized about being in front of his house at night, but he actually new what it was and stated that his friend must have put it there to mess with him. He ended up searching for it with us and when we saw that the cache had fallen down this metal opening in the pole he went in his garage and came out with a crowbar! At this point my friends were back and trying to convince him that its ok, we dont want the cache that bad, haha. sleep.gif

Link to comment

Ive been caught in the act many times...

[sNIP!]

...that its ok, we dont want the cache that bad, haha.

 

Well did you get it?

Nope! We saw it with a flashlight, it had fallen to the ground and so the guy couldn't dig under the metal or remove it from the pole. We just logged it as a needs maintenance. He was a very strange man and didn't seem to care that people were Comming to grab the cache, but at first he scared the s*** out of us!

Link to comment

The first time I was caught in the act me and the better half (wife) were out on a counry road looking for a cache. As I walked out of the woods after finding the cache a sheriff deputy drove by. It was after dark so when I saw him his break lights come on I knew he saw us. He turned around and came back to where we were parked. As he got out of the car and walked toward us I said "I bet you are wondering what we are doing here." I gave him the spill about geocaching and even showed him the cache we had just found. He showed intrest in the hobby and even took down the web site saying man I could always use something to do when it's slow out here, maybe I could look for some of these in my patrol area. I always wondered if he ever started caching on duty.

Link to comment

Sure. This past weekend an owner of a creamery business came out to ask what I was doing. He had not been informed of the cache placed on an old wagon on his property, right in front of a big open window. I explained the game to him, he told me to have fun, then after finding the cache,I bought some great cheese and ice cream from him. So everyone was happy.

 

The next day, I hiked up to a cache only to discover that there were people at the location enjoying the warm afternoon. As I walked up, one of them looked at me and said something about geocaching. The other two had not heard of the game, so I got to share it with them.

 

Store employees have asked me why people keep coming up to a particular lamp post. Another person was curious about what I was doing when I retrieved a cache that was placed in the base of a flag pole, in a busy park, surrounded by occupied benches. Once or twice, a family has joined in the hunt. And more than once, someone has seen my gpsr and asked if I had found it.

 

Awhile back, a friend and I got some stares as we emerged from some bushes. It turned out the park was a rendezvous point for various other activities. Neighbors have stared for other reasons. But there have only been a few encounters with truly angry property owners who did not appreciate that there was a cache placed on their land. Usually I am amazed by what one can do without attracting enough attention so that someone asks.

 

Fortunately, the couple of times I have definitely gone too far in retrieving a cache have been times when no one has "caught me in the act."

Edited by mulvaney
Link to comment

Today I was caught in the act, the clue on the cache required me to "climb inside" an area where I was completly surrounded in branches. I guess i looked pretty silly to some high school kids that walked by because they immeditaly said "did you loose something." I had no idea what to say...my only other encounters while geocaching have been with authorities so I didnt know what to tell these kids. I explained geocaching with them and the muggle army helped me find the cache, they were good kids and seemed to enjoy it...made an average micro just alittle bit more fun

Link to comment

I normally have my look out dog with me and my little boy.....We were once trying to find a cache on the side of a footpath in a nature reserve....i had been there 3 times with no luck of finding the cache and not once had any body disturbed me whilst browsing (if was my first find)....so i jump over this little ditch and start looking whilst my son and dog stand on the path......blaze gets all giddy and starts jumping up....aaron sbouts "quickly mummy a muggler is comming" (sooo cute when he says that)

 

I thought up this straight on the spot and now save it for any other caches where muggles could be about " ohhh Aaron why did you have to throw the dogs ball in these bushes" and if the dog n boy aint with me its this simple line " dont mind me i think i heard an injured animal in the bushes" tends to work...but when im backing out of brambles and nettles ppl do look at me like ive gone walk abouts from the mental hospital....talking to meself....laughing.....OUCH OUCH OUCH quite alot aswell lol

 

ALL PART OF THE FUN :)

Link to comment

You know, I dislike caches that require rooting & rummaging through someones landscaping. I feel rude stepping in the fresh mulch and rooting thru the nicely trimmed bushes. Havent been caught yet and it's probably because we'll abort the mission until the area is completely muggle free. No muggle eyeballs and less stress.

Link to comment

If people ask me, I tell them exactly what I am doing and about Geocaching. After all, that is how I found out about it by asking what someone was doing. Been hooked ever since. last weekend there was one on a bus stop bench. I didn't want to wait for the bus to come, so I approached the lady and told her what I was doing. She was interested and let me look using my mirror, I hate to bend over for no reason. I found it and showed her this nano cache. Satisfied her curiousity and I got the smiley.

Link to comment

I carry a clipboard around with me. Usually I have a print out of the cache which helps with the description and hint. If muggles see me looking at something they probably assume I am a utility worker or inspector of some kind. That works great in towns or out in the country as a county inspector. I hold my gps on top of the clipboard and a pen in my other hand like I am taking notes. Once you find a cache you can use the clipboard to help you sign the log.

 

I was in the country one time and the cache was hidden at a spring. I pulled over as soon as my gps said I was near GZ. There was a nice spring house and little pond area. I jumped out to start my search and a lady said "Can I help you?" I didn't realize she was nearby doing yard work. I quickly said that I was researching springs in the area. She asked if it was for the state transportation and I said no, it was for the local university research. She then said, "Oh, then you probably want to check that one too" pointing a good stone's throw away. "That one has been there forever and lots of people stop there for drinking water". I quickly realized I was at the wrong spring. I thanked her and went to check out that spring too (and found the cache)!

 

You can wing it with some people or just tell the truth. Always be totally honest if security or police approach you!

Link to comment

I used to be very cautious about looking weird when geocaching around "muggles", now I head straight in & not worry about them. Generally I'll turn my back on them as to kind of keep to myself what I'm doing. But whatever. I don't not attempt to grab geocaches anymore just because others are around, especially if I don't go out that way very often. Although I hope my actions don't make them curious about what I was up to, until after I leave, then they decide to make the geocache MIA, instead of talking to me when I was there.

 

Over the weekend I was done helping my dad move for the day. One of the parks I came to, I knew right where the cache was planted as soon as I pulled up. On a bench next to some kids playing basketball (when they weren't too busy smoking weed). I was mildly intimidated by this, but screw it, I am an hour+ away from home & haven't been out this way in over 6mo. Took me about 30sec to find where it was at. Sat down with my back towards them, fumbled out the log, signed, then planted it back while still sitting. Then back to my car & off to next cache. Ran into property owner tending her landscaping inquiring about what I was doing. After the geocaching spiel, I insisted she sign log since she was there when I found it.

Link to comment

I was caught in the act of geocaching on GC2F3HX last November, and, unfortunately, although I tried to involve the kid in the sport, I think I just led to the cache being muggled.

 

So maybe that was one time when I should have just mumbled some excuse ("thought I lost my keys here" or something), jumped in my car, and driven away, because subsequent cachers have recorded a string of DNFs since that day.

 

I still feel bad about it. On the other hand, the cache owner has not replaced or archived the cache either.

Link to comment

While my other half and I have been geocaching for just a few months, we have been caught in the act by various people in public places. The most memorable was while searching for a JeananJoe cache in Northern Arizona. They have some dozies, and this was no exception; one of their woodpecker series (see caches around Cottonwood and Camp Verde, AZ). After about 20 minutes of searching on a not-so-busy public road corner, a sheriff pulled up. He asked us what we were doing...very businesslike and I was glad we were on public property. He said he had questioned others who gave the same 'geocaching' answer (we were not about to make up a story to the law!) and finally left. The good thing is, we found the cache (quite a feat for new cachers, as JeananJoe are notorious for DNFs!) :-)

Edited by Jayco Roamers
Link to comment

So many stories to tell...

 

Earlier this month I was in AZ on vacation. I went around looking for caches in the area which led me to one in a small neighborhood. The arrow was pointing to a cluster of electric meters. I proceeded to check the area around the meters for the cache when I hear this old lady shout, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE WITH THE METERS?!!!" Startled, I turned around and walked toward her and proceeded to explain geocaching and showed her my GPSr. She understood and explained, "we don't get many strangers in this neighborhood tampering with the meters". I told her I'm only looking to see if there's anything there and that we don't tamper with stuff. She seemed satisfied with that.

 

For another story, read the logs to this one. It's not strictly a "got caught by a muggle" story but I thought it might be relevant.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC118F9

Link to comment

We've been caught a few times, one we were searching for a micro and pulled down a lost dog sign thinking it might be behind it and a truck pulled up as we were putting it back up and started asking about our lost dog. My 10 year old daughter said "Oh that's okay, he always comes home" and started to walk away. The guy looked awfully confused as I tried to explain it really was okay and follow my daughter back to the park, keeping my fingers crossed that he didn't look too closely at the lost dog sign that had no contact phone number.

 

Another time we had checked out a cache and didn't find it so we went up the road to another cache and got rained out. As we headed back home we passed a couple with a young child in the drenching pouring rain and a container so I made my husband stop the truck, the kids and I jumped out as the fellow with the container starts walking away. I started hollering "Did you find it", "Where was it?", "Can we sign the log book". I was a little surprised as it was larger than I thought it would be and couldn't understand the faster I started moving towards him the faster he started up the hill so I started asking the girl if they had found the cache and it turns out they weren't geocaching at all...they were out for an afternoon of picking well, she said wild asparagus but with his behaviour I wonder if it was mushrooms. Thankfully the girl had heard about geocaching and we quickly pointed out a birds nest and ran back to the truck giggling.

Link to comment

I carry a clipboard around with me. Usually I have a print out of the cache which helps with the description and hint. If muggles see me looking at something they probably assume I am a utility worker or inspector of some kind. That works great in towns or out in the country as a county inspector. I hold my gps on top of the clipboard and a pen in my other hand like I am taking notes. Once you find a cache you can use the clipboard to help you sign the log.

 

Thats a great idea! I was actually thinking about buying an orange vest so it made it look even more official.

Link to comment

I carry a clipboard around with me. Usually I have a print out of the cache which helps with the description and hint. If muggles see me looking at something they probably assume I am a utility worker or inspector of some kind. That works great in towns or out in the country as a county inspector. I hold my gps on top of the clipboard and a pen in my other hand like I am taking notes. Once you find a cache you can use the clipboard to help you sign the log.

 

Thats a great idea! I was actually thinking about buying an orange vest so it made it look even more official.

 

Wonderful idea. Might have to remember that.

Link to comment

Had an odd one this weekend.

 

We were looking for a cache in a row of bushes that was off the ground, they were all between 3' - 6' tall. There was an older woman watching us from across the street. We were looking for about 20 minutes ~only~ at the tops of these 6' bushes.

 

Then the woman comes over towards us, still we are only looking at the tops of these bushes, and she asks if we are looking for our dog.

 

It was all I could do to keep from laughing as I wondered what dog, that could actually hide in these small bushes, would be about the 6' height.

Link to comment

I did nightcaching with my fiancé once. Well, technically we had already found this cache before, but now hunting down a TB that was placed inside it. problem was that the cache was a mystery and we had deleted the final coordinates a long time ago. So we decided to look for it, in the middle of the night, in the dark, only using vague memories of it's location..

Obviously we remembered wrong, when a woman with a very stern voice asks me What the H*** I am doing in her backyard. I had no clue I had managed to enter anyones property, but scared as hell and blinded by the flashlight I raised my hands in the air and start rambling about Geocaching. (The reason for panic was that a friend had just one day earlier been accused of hiding drugs, they took his picture and the cops were called in. I have purple hair as well, which is rarely popular among the older generation)

After about five minutes of questions, confusion and blindness, we both managed to calm down and out of the blue she offers me and my fiancé to come in for a glass of wine. It wsn't until now anyone o us could properly look at eachother. She was a middleaged lady with kind eyes. Behind her there was a very nervous man who later admitted that he had seen my flashlight and been worried he had to stop drinking cause he was seeing things.

And there we stayed until 1.30 AM, on a sunday night, sharing laughs and wine, just a bunch of strangers. We told them about geocaching, they told us about their jobs as a steward and stewardess.

As I'm sure you can imagine, it was epic.

And yeah, we did find the trackable the next day, this time when the sun was still out.... About 500m away from the womans house. :)

Link to comment

been seen a few times, but not too much came of it, I was muggled by a cop while looking for a cache just across the street from the headquaters of the small town police staton

he just looked at me and walked into the building, for all I know he put it there...lol

 

but placing a cache on private property or even in a park too close to hi traffic area is just the sign of an irresponsible cacher

but near a building or on it is much, much worse, it is inviting the cops/FBI or worse, HOT LEAD

 

so I try to only look for and place caches in the woods that are NOT private property, say parks, or just off rural streets

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...