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What to say when you get caught.


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We were searching in a high muggles area recently when one female muggle asked me what we were doing. Rather than try to explain it, I decided to tell her that my pet hamster got away and we were trying to find him; she bought it... and then she helped us look. We never found my poor hamster. :)

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I got caught by a muggle coming out of the woods, so I initially ignored him and walked partially down a dead-end path, then back out again. He was just standing there at the top of the hill waiting for me. I thought "uh oh...I'm caught". Instead of asking what I was doing, he asked about if I knew where the "walking path" was for the park. He was actually standing on it, so I told him he was on it and that I was also just looking for alternate paths thru the woods, but couldn't find a way across the creek. He just said "oh" and walked off. Luckily, that was the only one I've encountered so far.

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Although this entry is slightly off at a tangent! I went on a first to find mission that was down a lane and quite quiet. I had my little girl in a baby carrier and was merrily walking down the lane and an elderly couple appeared from the bushes! I said "Are you doing what I think your doing?" They paused thought for a bit and said, "What do you think we were doing?" I grinned and said Geocaching! They looked most relieved and said yes! We had a good chat and parted company. I like it when I meet fellow geocachers as it means you can put a face to a name.

 

Noone has asked me yet but I would be honest and tell them straight, as I'm not a good lier!

Edited by springbok200
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Actually I have been asked what I was doing with a friend of mine, it has just come back to me!

 

A tricky local cache we were both struggling with and there was no one around apart from a tractor ploughing a field in the distance. It look us ages because there were loads of brambles near GZ. Out the corner of my eye the tractor was coming up the field like he had finished and I thought he would head down the lane and away to the farm but he just got closer and closer and my friend was getting worried as to what we were going to say.

 

I still thought he was going to pass right on by but he didn't he drove up to us ( a very nice YOUNG farmer I might add!!!!:P) We smiled sweetly as he jumped out of the cab and he said very politely "What are you doing?" I attempted to be as charming as possible and came clean and said Geocaching. He looked a bit puzzled and we continued to explain how it works and which site to visit. He then said we were on private land. Which we both found confusing as it was to the entrance of a public church? but we smiled sweetly and said we would report this and high tailed it home!

 

Now I'm married but my friend isn't and on the way back all I did was kid my friend up that he would have made suitable boyfriend material! I'm not sure she agreed though!

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At 6'1" 225lb with a shaved head, a ton of tattoos and piercings, i don't tend to have people stick around to ask me anything. Most people tend to avoid me and not really interact in any way. A couple of times I have come out of the brush to encounter a muggle and they have almost always just moved on with a tinge of fear in their eyes.

 

If asked, I would tell the truth about what I am doing. Only once have I been asked, and I told the young lady exactly what I was doing. She responded that she would buy a GPSr and take her kids along as it sounds fun!

 

Sometimes the "big scary guy" image is a benefit. Doesn't help me make friends, but it keeps people from asking too many questions

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So, I was geocaching today and a muggle came up upon me. Asked what I was doing. Explained I was geocaching and he was still confused and then proceeded to tell me I was in a private neighborhood and was trespassing. Explained to him that the person who created and left a hidden container explained this was a private neighborhood and that he gave geocachers permission to enter it and look for them. Guy demanded to know name of person. Informed him that I was not sure and could only provide username. Then proceeded to ask me if he could take a picture of the info on my phone so he could report the game to the members at the board meeting that evening. He also told me that I was parked alongside an airplane runway. (Mind you this is in a private neighborhood and the runway was a marked street with NO signage saying do not park in area for it’s a runway). 

I apologized and left immediately. Guy was borderline rude despite calling me a nice lady. He was still friendly but I doubt he believed me when I tried to explain the game concept behind geocaching. Was surprised he didn’t call the police on me. 

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8 hours ago, Khudsontn said:

I apologized and left immediately.

Sounds like you did the right thing by explaining and leaving when asked, and as others have said mention it on the log so that others (including the CO) are aware, it could be that the CO is a resident and it might prompt him to mention it to the board. I don't think it's a very common occurence.

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7 hours ago, Pontiac_CZ said:

No. 1 - in the log so other geocachers know as well what they might be running into.

You may want to PM the reviewer who published the cache and let them follow up with the cache owner.

As a board member of a home owner association I can tell you that residents would not be allowed to place caches on the common property without permission of the board.

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Homeowner associations are always a constant source of delight.  "How can I legally bind my neighbors to comport themselves with my expectations?  I know!  I'll build it into the deed!"

I've come across a number of geocaches that were hidden on common neighborhood property.  The caches almost always require parking next to a "NO TRESPASSING" sign, and the descriptions all tend to state something along the lines of, "The sign says 'NO TRESPASSING,' but don't worry, it's open to homeowners and their guests, and I am a homeowner, and you are my guest."  These tend to last about 24 hours after any homeowner other than the cache owner gets a whiff of filthy nonresident geocachers bumbling about their sacred community and complains to the HOA.

edit: no, as a transient Army attorney, I've never owned a home.  Perhaps once I retire from my unwashed hobo lifestyle and buy a house, I'll change my views and see HOAs as the last, best defense against the murdering hordes that I hear are sweeping across America.  Time will tell.

Edited by hzoi
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16 hours ago, Khudsontn said:

So, I was geocaching today and a muggle came up upon me. Asked what I was doing. Explained I was geocaching and he was still confused and then proceeded to tell me I was in a private neighborhood and was trespassing. Explained to him that the person who created and left a hidden container explained this was a private neighborhood and that he gave geocachers permission to enter it and look for them. Guy demanded to know name of person. Informed him that I was not sure and could only provide username. Then proceeded to ask me if he could take a picture of the info on my phone so he could report the game to the members at the board meeting that evening. He also told me that I was parked alongside an airplane runway. (Mind you this is in a private neighborhood and the runway was a marked street with NO signage saying do not park in area for it’s a runway). 

I apologized and left immediately. Guy was borderline rude despite calling me a nice lady. He was still friendly but I doubt he believed me when I tried to explain the game concept behind geocaching. Was surprised he didn’t call the police on me. 

Just my two cents......

I'd never allow anyone any information from my phone, even if all they ask is a picture. That sounds suspiciously like they were hoping you would add 2+2 and offer to send it to them, giving them your phone number in the process. 

I'd offer to write down all the information they wanted and give them the address for Geocaching.com, allowing them to obtain whatever they desired. Somewhere in that process I'd mention, "Give me a few minutes and I'll show you what I'm looking for."

At which point if he chooses to bring in a homeowners representative or the police, I'd welcome a third party for my own safety.

 

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1 hour ago, garyo1954 said:

Just my two cents......

I'd never allow anyone any information from my phone, even if all they ask is a picture. That sounds suspiciously like they were hoping you would add 2+2 and offer to send it to them, giving them your phone number in the process. 

I'd offer to write down all the information they wanted and give them the address for Geocaching.com, allowing them to obtain whatever they desired. Somewhere in that process I'd mention, "Give me a few minutes and I'll show you what I'm looking for."

At which point if he chooses to bring in a homeowners representative or the police, I'd welcome a third party for my own safety.

 

I agree.  Some point in that confrontation, I might just call the police myself.  :)

We've yet to be on a association property that turned out well.  One CO asked us to "stop in the office" before you start looking.  Archived... Another promised all knew that people would be looking, but he was only a temp resident there and no one knew who we were talking about.  Archived...  There are still a couple caches inside a vacation/resort area (even requires a toll to enter) that's managed to still be in play, but most here go bye-bye after someone places the correct action to it.

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On several occasions, I have donned a "Hi Viz" jacket and either a hard hat, or a woolly bobble hat.

Although you are very visible, you also blend in, nobody questions a worker who is inspecting the underside of a park bench, or the (safe side) of the roadside barriers, and if you occasionally jot something on a piece of paper, "I never noticed him, he was just a worker"

Works for me!

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One reason I tend to want to avoid caches in private subdivisions.  Even in looser urban neighborhoods you can stand out to the residents.  The oldest cache in Georgia is in a common area of a private neighborhood and I can't for the life of me understand how it still hangs around.  I think the HOA requires the CO disable it and remove the container during the local mega events so there aren't hordes of cachers coming through.  It's pratically in someone's backyard...and I'm pretty sure if that were my house I'd ask them to remove it.  It's just not worth the hassle going into areas like that.

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21 minutes ago, bmwman said:

On several occasions, I have donned a "Hi Viz" jacket and either a hard hat, or a woolly bobble hat.

Although you are very visible, you also blend in, nobody questions a worker who is inspecting the underside of a park bench, or the (safe side) of the roadside barriers, and if you occasionally jot something on a piece of paper, "I never noticed him, he was just a worker"

Works for me!

Very good.  Guess that might be a location/regional thing...

 - Here, many would either ask "what the (expletive deleted) you're doing?" or dial 911 of a suspicious person. Our roads, and most parks crews have markings identifying who they are and where they belong.

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We usually just say we're playing a GPS game and trying to find an exact spot--we'll show them the GPSr but don't mention the cache.  People aren't too interested in 2 middle aged folks walking around with a GPSr, but when you mention a physical cache, that's when it changes.

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On 4/15/2018 at 2:23 AM, bmwman said:

On several occasions, I have donned a "Hi Viz" jacket and either a hard hat, or a woolly bobble hat.

Although you are very visible, you also blend in, nobody questions a worker who is inspecting the underside of a park bench, or the (safe side) of the roadside barriers, and if you occasionally jot something on a piece of paper, "I never noticed him, he was just a worker"

Works for me!

I knew some to dress in bright yellow tops while setting up a cache. No-one asked any questions; they were workers doing their job. Even the police waved as they drove by.

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Graffiti makes a good excuse if any is nearby (hope it's some decent examples). I was caught scrambling out from under a bridge in a storm-water channel by an elderly man walking his dog. He pointed at the camera around my neck and said, "I saw someone look strangely at you, but I knew what you were doing. You were photographing the graffiti."

"Yes I was," I replied. And we went on to discus the various graffiti artworks there, and fortunately they were good examples. It turned out the gentleman liked the graffiti.

 

Another occasion, I got caught out by a graffiti artist is an alleyway. Perhaps he thought I was going to damage his artwork, as he seemed concerned and wanted to know what I was doing there. "Admiring the graffiti," I replied. Then he relaxed and we discussed graffiti.

 

A camera around the neck is a fall-back too. Er..."Taking photographs...of grungy places."

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My brother, PokerLuck was up from Knoxville, TN for a few days.  We past some

time picking up caches west of Joliet.  One showed up to be in a wooded area next to a McDonald's.  The medical center that bordered on the wood called the police on us.  A very courteous police officer pulled up and asked what we were doing.  We explained the activity but he was skeptical.  Then backup arrived and she said something to the other officer like "Come on, they're harmless".  "Just Geocachers having a nice day".       

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I just asked a cacher which TOTT they used to get a cache stuck up on a utility pole. The response floored me... 

 

We took our Little Giant Folded Ladder with us and just put it up against the pole, climbed up and got it! No one even stopped to ask us what we were up to!

 

If verbally confronted I always respond with the truth.

 

This helps with angry homeowners who don't want caches near their property or the coordinates were incorrectly inputted. I offer to notify the CO of the problem and get it removed from the system.

 

With muggle with badges and guns.... Definitely the truth. Was on the side of the road in the middle of rural Idaho doing some great challenge caches. He was more concerned i was not in need of help. After explaining things and showing him the 100s of caches in the area we proceeded to look for and make the find together.

 

Strange looks I keep on walking or pretend to make a phone call.  

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10 hours ago, MNTA said:

With muggle with badges and guns.... Definitely the truth. Was on the side of the road in the middle of rural Idaho doing some great challenge caches. He was more concerned i was not in need of help. After explaining things and showing him the 100s of caches in the area we proceeded to look for and make the find together.

 

I love to hear stories of law enforcement becoming geocachers because of incidents like this.

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2 hours ago, Team Christiansen said:
13 hours ago, MNTA said:

With muggle with badges and guns.... Definitely the truth. Was on the side of the road in the middle of rural Idaho doing some great challenge caches. He was more concerned i was not in need of help. After explaining things and showing him the 100s of caches in the area we proceeded to look for and make the find together.

 

 

2 hours ago, Team Christiansen said:

I love to hear stories of law enforcement becoming geocachers because of incidents like this.

 

I did an LPC behind Walmart.  Crossed the road into the woods for another find,  The up a dead end road for another.  On my way back, I was stopped by cops.  Must have been a three mile drive for them.  "What were you doing behind Walmart?"  So I explained geocaching to him.  He reported it on his  radio.  Then I heard (over the radio) screeching.  They lifted the LPC, and found the cache.  So, the cop let me finish my walk back.  And the cache is still there!  No idea how he knew where to find me.

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Since i play pokemon go as well... I'd just say i was curious to what pokemon are in this area...or i could say I'm looking for lizards/snakes/birds/etc...i live in South Florida & can always use my photography & bird/creature watching as an excuse...but more than likely i'd be honest about the geocache...or i could always say I lost my ring walking my dog here the day prior...lol

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The other day I was caching outside of a restaurant (at the edge of the parking lot) after looking around for 10 minutes a security guard game and stopped his car right behind me.

He asked me if I was waiting for a friend. I said no.

 

Then he said what are you doing? I said Geocaching.

 

He was like Geo-what? I said its like a scavenger hunt game.

 

I tried to show him my phone screen but he backed up and told me there had been some car thefts lately and that I need to go.

 

I didn't find the cache but I found a different one elsewhere.

 

 

Whats funny I have a huge geocache sticker on my car but he still didn't believe me. 

 

 

Edited by Gabeman26
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2 hours ago, Gabeman26 said:

The other day I was caching outside of a restaurant (at the edge of the parking lot) after looking around for 10 minutes a security guard game and stopped his car right behind me.

He asked me if I was waiting for a friend. I said no.

 

Then he said what are you doing? I said Geocaching.

 

He was like Geo-what? I said its like a scavenger hunt game.

 

I tried to show him my phone screen but he backed up and told me there had been some car thefts lately and that I need to go.

 

I didn't find the cache but I found a different one elsewhere.

 

 

Whats funny I have a huge geocache sticker on my car but he still didn't believe me. 

 

 

I can imagine that they'd be suspicious of any loiterers, if there have been car thefts recently. I hope you put this info into your DNF log - perhaps the CO should temporarily disable the cache for a while until things calm down there.

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Well, it finally happened.  

For almost six years I've wondered about what folks might think about spotting me entering/exiting a wooded area while out caching on my own.  Today, while searching for a cache along a walking trail, I was told by a lady out for a run that I "looked creepy coming out of those bushes".  Fortunately, there was a small side trail that led up to a neighborhood, so I laughed and pointed to that trail, implying I'd come through from there...but it still stung, and put an abrupt end to my search.

 

Guess I'm just a creepy-looking dude.  :ph34r:

Edited by J Grouchy
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