Do you log an accidental find

[+stijnhommes]

I spent a half hour one time find a perfect hiding spot in a green belt area that is popular with geoacachers. I found the one spot that was slightly more than .1 miles from the sorrounding caches. I hid my ammo can at the base of the tree and as I stood up I realized there was a large bison hanging from the tree branch directly in front of me. It was final stage of a multi that I hadn't done yet.

In the thread about coincidences, I found this to be one of the more striking entries, but it did spark another idea.

If you accidentally stumble upon a cache like that (without doing all the other stages), would you sign the log or would you consider this an ethical problem?

[+JL_HSTRE]

Most of the time - puzzle cache, traditional cache I was unaware of, unpublished cache - and I accidentally found the final then I would log it as a find. There is no requirement to finding a cache with a GPS nor finding only caches you intend to find.

 

If it was the final of a multi then I would probably make it a point to find the other stages unless it was something simple ('first stage is a bison tube with coordinates for the final'). While I could log it since I did find the final, for many multi's (ex: offset, walking tour) there is usually a good experience to be had visiting all the stages.

[+Viajero Perdido]

Why not? You found it.

 

One memorable day last winter, a friend and I were trying to brute-force a find on a puzzle we couldn't solve, by methodically searching an entire forest that we deduced the cache hider might've visited. (This is also considered okay around here.)

 

Imagine our surprise when we instead stumbled across a yet-to-be-published cache, a week before it was published and became an instant sensation. (See amusing picture on co-FTF log.)

 

We couldn't find the puzzle we were looking for, as it turned out to be somewhere else. Too bad; it'd have been doubly cool to brute-force two caches for the price of one.

[+lamoracke]

I think finding a multi by pure luck is a much more exciting log than doing it the prescribed way. I'd log it with a smile.

[+BBWolf+3Pigs]

I log them when I find them (which is very rarely).

[+The A-Team]

Only once have I stumbled across a cache: the final of a multi. It was early in my caching career, and I didn't know if it was okay to log it, so I didn't. I later did the multi as intended and logged it. If it happened today, I'd log it. My area is pretty saturated and has lots of multis and puzzles, so if I'm on a trail for the first time and I see a gap between caches, I'll keep my eye out for possible hiding spots along the way. It hasn't worked yet, though.

[+briansnat]

If I find a cache by design or by accident I log a Found It. What am I going to do, log a DNF? I don't see the ethical issue at all.

[+The_Incredibles_]

I've been lucky enough a few times. OK, luck isn't quite the right word, more like OCD. Yes, I logged them. Two were puzzles and the cache owners weren't likely to mind so I went ahead.

 

Just thinking about my own caches, I probably wouldn't be annoyed if someone stumbled on the cache. They found it, they deserve to log it.

Edited August 26, 2012 by The_Incredibles_

[+Harry Dolphin]

Sign log, get smiley. Fairly simple. Owners may not impose restrictions on how you find it. I've been known to brute force a few. Certainly no worse than roving hordes groups of cachers who seek caches together. One may have solved the puzzle, but all in the group log the find.

[Chino1130]

I'd log it. No real point in doing anything but that.

[+dprovan]

I'd log it in a heartbeat. In fact, I'd be really proud of myself.

[+Sol seaker]

What am I going to do, log a DNF?

 

:laughing: :laughing:

 

 

Once I was walking in a park with non-cachers who would have been annoyed had I been paying attention to my GPS instead of their conversation. I discreetly looked around as we walked, knowing there were a number of them in that park. Found one. There is no requirement a GPS be used. I logged it with the story.

 

Another time I found a multi on accident. It was disabled; the owner thought it was missing.

I went to log it, and then discovered it was a multi. I asked the CO if it was still okay to log it since I hadn't found the other waypoints. He was so excited to get his cache back intact, I think he would have let me log it twice (no I did not ).

 

A lot of people find them without a GPS at all. What's the difference?

[+Thrak]

There was a local series placed at "tractor" signs along the road. I was out of the area and saw a tractor sign and, just on a whim, I stopped and looked for a cache. Sure enough, there was a cache there. The only problem I had with logging it was figuring out what cache it was as I had no idea what the name or GC number was nor did I know who had placed it.

[+bflentje]

I am wondering this is considered an ethical question..

[+stijnhommes]

I thought I might anger cache owners by not finding a cache in the prescribed way, but there appears to be a general concensus that it's not a problem. Thanks for all the input!

Viajero Perdido, your story must be the weirdest. Finding a cache before it's even published is incredible!

 

Sol seaker, I never looked at it from that POV, but I guess finding disabled "missing" caches is one way of making CO's happy. If a missing or archived cache has TBs it's even more important to find it, so the trackables can be saved, I think.

[+HH58]

I also found some caches accidentally and of course I logged those founds. Similar questions are: If there is a group of 4 or 5 cachers out in the forest and only one of them solved the mystery, are all of them allowed to log after finding the cache box ? Of course they are. If those 5 cachers search for the box and finally one of them finds it - are the other 4 cachers allowed to log ? Of course they are.

[+badger10]

My son and I were out to place his second cache and we found a perfect place in a local delta. Well I found out that there was a cache placed nearby when the reviewer would not publish it. When we went to get our cache we found the first one. I do not think I can/should log it because it is the final for the South East Washington oldies challenge. 25 of the oldest caches. If I ever complete that challenge I won't have to search for it to hard.

[+K13]

If one wasn't allowed to log 'accidental' finds, I would not have learned of the game? My first find was by accident. Found an ammo can in the woods when looking for a "restroom".

[+a1elec]

The logging of accidental finds or brute force finds are OK by me as I have used this methodology for a local puzzle cache that I could not determine by the use of any other method to solve the clue it would not reveal itself and knowing the location of the clue I thought maybe it would be worth a try to see what I could find in the general area. Yes it was worth it not only did I find the cache but it also had a path tag and a Traveller in it so it was a real good find. I stated in the log that it was a no gps find and the co never responded to the log so i guess it was all OK with them.

[AZcachemeister]

If you are walking along the sidewalk and see a $20 lying there, do you put it in your pocket?

Or do you leave it there because you weren't 'looking for money' when you noticed it?

 

I thought so.

[GPS-Hermit]

Do whatever you want to do - and enjoy your day - I think it would be entertaining to log it as a find then tell your story about how you found it and let others enjoy your day! DNFOP Did Not Find On Purpose. There is not much point in coming back to find it later! It certainly will not come up often enough to worry about the morals of it. Remember there is alot of folks like me who enjoy reading the logs for entertainment purposes and love to hear what goes on. So better to Log than not. Log as a find , DNF, NOte, whatever - something neat happened about the cache. Whoopie!

Edited August 29, 2012 by GPS-Hermit