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how to tell if cache is muggled?


Grither88

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Posted

hi gang, newbie here! just literally started today and found about 12 within one mile of my home. bu there was one that i just can't find! i read all the logs and everyone found it, but the most current is about 3 weeks old... it seems to be in a high traffic place. i've written to the owner to confirm if its there or not but i havent heard back yet

 

so when do you 'give up'?

Posted

I've returned as many as 6 times - spending up to 90 minutes each time before I could find a cache. Another I returned 5 times over 4 years and spent 60+ minutes each time. Both Rated a 2 for difficulty.

 

As the owner of 150+ hides - I wish I had a dime for each time somebody declared one of my caches as "missing for sure" when it was still sitting in place. If I can't find a cache, I log my DNF (Did Not Find) log and then move on with life. If I've never found it, I am in no position to declare it missing.

Posted

You just contacted the owner today, give him a chance to respond. Not everyone checks their email several times a day. And, some cache owners unfortunately aren't good about replying. Most are but not all, I have one in particular in my area who has never replied to any of my concerns about bad coordinates, needs maintenance, etc.

 

It could just be that you couldn't find it. One DNF out of 12 caches is a great success rate for a newbie. Some of them are just tricky like that, I wouldn't automatically assume it's missing.

 

What I would do if I were you, is check "watch this cache" on the cache page. This is a feature available to all members, I think (not a Premium feature). It will send you an email every time someone posts a log on that cache, so that way you'll know if later cachers are finding it or not. If someone finds it next week, it's still there, go back and look again. If it gets a bunch of DNF's, it might really be missing.

Posted

hi gang, newbie here! just literally started today and found about 12 within one mile of my home. bu there was one that i just can't find! i read all the logs and everyone found it, but the most current is about 3 weeks old... it seems to be in a high traffic place. i've written to the owner to confirm if its there or not but i havent heard back yet

You may not hear from the CO, depending on where the cache is. I mean if it is way out in the boonies don't expect the CO to run out and see if it is missing. More likely is ... the CO will wait and see if more DNFs show up, or a DNF from someone they know is a very experienced cacher.

 

How do I know this??? 'Cause that's what I do. The majority of my caches are out in the woods, only 1 is in town. So I wait until I get a couple more logs and then determine what the cache status is.

 

What I suggest you do is.... put the cache on a watch list and see if anyone else finds it, or DNFs it.

 

so when do you 'give up'?

Uhm..... never. It may be a while before I get back to the cache but I will go back after one that has stumped me.

Posted

You may not hear from the CO, depending on where the cache is. I mean if it is way out in the boonies don't expect the CO to run out and see if it is missing. More likely is ... the CO will wait and see if more DNFs show up, or a DNF from someone they know is a very experienced cacher.

 

 

Even then, it still may be there. I like to tell the story of one that I DNF'd a while back, and after 6 or 8 subsequent DNF's the owner finally went out with a new container to replace it, and whaddaya know, it was still there after all. Just very tricky. And I did finally get that one recently on my 3rd attempt.

 

As far as when do you give up? That's up to each individual. It might take 3, 4, or more trips back to the same location. If most logs said it was an easy find and I couldn't find it, I'll usually go back. Just to save my pride, I guess. However, in one case at least, the place was a dump (literally) and I decided not to go back to that one again just because the location was pretty lame. So it all depends on your motivation, I guess.

Posted
Uhm..... never. It may be a while before I get back to the cache but I will go back after one that has stumped me.

The OP probably means more in terms of when you assume that a cache has been muggled and move onto the next one. It's a tough call to make, since you don't want to use "it's probably been muggled" as an excuse for not being able to find it. There's plenty of factors to consider, such as:

 

How likely would a cache hidden there be muggled? If it's a high traffic area, it's more likely to be found by a non-cacher.

 

When the cache was last found. If it was last found weeks or even months ago, there's lots of time for it to have been muggled.

 

The difficulty rating of the cache/content of previous logs If it's a tough one, you probably just haven't found it yet. If the logs show previous cachers had trouble but persisted and ended up finding it, keep looking.

 

How many DNFs have been posted. If a large number of people who looked before you couldn't find it, it's possible it's not there anymore. Be careful though, since what often happens is one cacher will log a DNF, then the next cacher won't try as hard since he thinks in the back of his mind it's been muggled. Now there are two DNFs and and any subsequent searchers are even more likely to give up sooner and log more DNFs since they all think it's muggled. Always use all four of these factors to decide when to "call it" and move on.

 

When do I truly give up and stop returning? It depends on how many times I visit a cache site before getting frustrated. I'm generally pretty determined. I've only truly given up on one cache which I went to around three or four times. What makes it even worse is I've looked everywhere around the structure and the whole time cachers were logging found it logs, so I'm SO close, but not close enough. :(

Posted

I give up when I'm not having fun any more. (If it's not on my Ten-Mile List.) Example: We had a nice hike in a park yesterday. Oh the way home, we stopped for 'one more'. Turned out to be a nano on a mortar. Spent a while looking. Ours was only the second DNF. Sorry. We were not having fun, and it's twelve miles from home. We will not be back.

Posted

thanks for all the feedback...

 

it is in high traffic area

it hasnt' been reported found in about 3 weeksit

it is low difficulty

but there are no other DNFs...

 

all the above except the last suggest it might be gone... for anyone who's curious i'm referring to

 

http://coord.info/GC2EXMB

Posted

thanks for all the feedback...

 

it is in high traffic area

it hasnt' been reported found in about 3 weeksit

it is low difficulty

but there are no other DNFs...

 

all the above except the last suggest it might be gone... for anyone who's curious i'm referring to

 

http://coord.info/GC2EXMB

Might be gone is a long way from actually being gone. Log the DNF and move on.

Posted

thanks for all the feedback...

 

it is in high traffic area

it hasnt' been reported found in about 3 weeksit

it is low difficulty

but there are no other DNFs...

 

all the above except the last suggest it might be gone... for anyone who's curious i'm referring to

 

http://coord.info/GC2EXMB

Might be gone is a long way from actually being gone. Log the DNF and move on.

 

have done. PS like your avatar

Posted
for anyone who's curious i'm referring to GC2EXMB
Looks like it's a cache in front of a Rona. Anything can happen to a cache like that. Who knows if the CO even had permission, the staff might have found it. Keep monitoring the logs and see if anyone else finds it or if more DNFs turn up.
Posted

Put it on your watchlist and see if anyone else DNFs it, since you're the first person to DNF. If someone else logs a find go back and try again. That's what I do if I can't find something, otherwise I might be wasting my time going back to a cache multiple times if it's not there. At this point I think it's too hard to tell if it's actually missing.

Posted

I checked out the logs further back and there were a couple of DNFs and the container replaced. I'd pop it on my watchlist and keep trying. Maybe it has gone missing again.

Posted

Depends on the size and difficulty of the cache. Might also depend on the CO - if you're familiar with their style of hiding you may have a good idea of how long it may take to find the cache, where it may be, perceived difficulty vs. actual, etc. It may also depend on how populated your area is. It's not uncommon for caches to go missing in my area - there's a high population density here.

 

The only time I'll assume a cache may have been muggled and contact the CO directly is if it meets the following criteria:

 

1. Specific (obvious) hint

2. Low difficulty

3. Larger container

4. Phoned a previous finder to verify its location

5. Scoured the area around GZ thoroughly

 

Still doesn't GUARANTEE it's gone missing. Had one that met all of those criteria and as it turns out, it got swept away in flood water and found it 35 feet from its original hiding place buried in flood debris. Marked as found, returned to its original hiding place (as verified by a previous finder AND the CO).

 

I will contact the CO with concerns if the cache meets the above criteria. Had this happen a couple months ago with a unique ammo can in the woods. There was an obvious hiding place - under a log, bunch of sticks and bark built up along the side. There was an obvious hint. There was also a photo of the cache on the cache page. A colorful, unique ammo can. I could not find it. I looked elsewhere, no luck. I contacted the CO after posting a DNF with "really hope this unique hide has not gone missing" and a couple weeks later another DNF was posted, cache was disabled, listed as muggled.

 

There are a lot of caches in this area that have few finds spread out over a long span of time. I've heard some stories of locals getting upset and requesting NA or insisting to the owner they're not there. Don't assume that it's gone because it hasn't been found in some time - even if it's an "easy" terrain or difficulty. It may just be an extremely good hide and you may just be blind to it :anibad:

Posted (edited)

I give up when I'm not having fun any more.

 

True... or when it gets frustrating.

 

There's a lot to say about 'experience'. The more caches you find, the more experience you get, and the more 'sense' (Cache-senses) you get. My husband and I only have 39 caches so far. As a newbie - you need a mix of easy quick finds to keep you motivated inbetween harder ones that you DNF. If you can't even find the quick & easy ones, then the whole game isn't fun anymore.

 

I will often look at the size of a cache to kick my cache-sense into a certain mode. Micro caches require a magnifying glass type search mode. If you get frustrated, walk away and look for it another day.

 

Same thing where I work. If I'm looking at a problem and I can't figure it out, I'll walk away for 10 minutes to clear my mind. More often than not, as soon as I come back - the solution hits me like a ton of bricks!

 

In terms of logs (and maybe this isn't the right thing to do?) - if the cache was recently found and there are no other DNF's, we'll simply walk away and not log anything at all. We'll go back after some time and read some new logs.

Edited by Lieblweb
Posted

hi gang, newbie here! just literally started today and found about 12 within one mile of my home. bu there was one that i just can't find! i read all the logs and everyone found it, but the most current is about 3 weeks old... it seems to be in a high traffic place. i've written to the owner to confirm if its there or not but i havent heard back yet

 

so when do you 'give up'?

 

I don't give up if I can't find it. When I'm done trying, I'll 'watch' it until somebody else finds it (Then I'll go try again) or until it gets archived.

 

The only one I won't go back for is one that was supposedly safe, but was not due to being on a steep slope by a waterfall with bad coordinates. Others have found it, but my kid almost went over the edge. - but that's a soap box for another thread...

Posted (edited)

I never assume a cache isn't there, there was one recently where we just couldn't find it, but found it after our third attempt - over a space of about three months!

 

Equally however, when a search turns up nothing after a while there's always that thought that it may not be there, and quite a number of occasions have revealed that the cache had indeed been muggled, which is why it's important to post a DNF even if you think you haven't looked properly.

 

edit: There was a cache I DNF'd on this Sunday as I was running late I didn't put much time into it, so considered not posting a DNF, but I did anyway and looking back now mine was the 2nd of now 4 DNFs so perhaps the cache is missing after all!

Edited by markhewitt1978
Posted

Because I'm still pretty new at this I also assume that if I can't find it then it's because I didn't look in the right spot and I need to try again, rather than there being something wrong with the cache. However... my very first DNF turned out to have been muggled! :lol:

 

In this case, the cache owner was kind enough to contact me and let me know the situation. It was restored shortly afterwards and I was able to go back and collect the smiley.

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