Cache hints in St. Louis

[STLladybug]

I started caching in British Columbia, but have moved back to Missouri now. I am finding that many of the cache listing give hints that are not really hints, but tell the exact location of the cache. Is this the norm here? In BC, the hint was exactly that...a hint to give you a general idea of where the cache might be located. But here, many of the hints are dead giveaways...Like... on the flagpole or under the largest log.

Before I consider placing a cache here, I kind of need to know, am I supposed to give away the exact location if I put a hint on my page? It seems like that kind of takes the challenge out of the game.

[Denmother]

Hi STLladybug, welcome back to Missouri! When my partner and I hide a cache, the "spoiler" level of the hint will depend on the difficulty rating of the cache. If it is a difficulty 4 or 5, we will not give much away in the hint. On a cache rated a difficulty 1 or 2, we may give away more information if we think a newbie may have some trouble with it. I'm not sure if you have found this to hold true to caches you have found in Missouri. It seems like some cache hiders will give away more information in the hints than other hiders will. You are certainly not expected to give away the location of your cache in the hint. Hope this helps! I look forward to seeing your new cache listings here in St. Louis.

[+rayt333]

Most of us only use the hints when we are really "stumped" and I like them to be progressive, start out with vague hints and end with dead giveaway clues, like I said we don't look unless we are really stumped. GPS's can be off more on some days, do you want a 1/1 cache that cannot be found at all?