New caches never found

[+_SWH]

What does everyone do to get that coveted FTF on a cache that has been posted for a while, but still has never been found? It's a high D/T on both. Cache owner aptly watches postings and responds usually that they went to check and it's "still there - plain as day".

 

What do you do, i.e. research?

The CO won't give clues - what do you do next?

 

I have one that I want to get but want some alternative tips and hints from the community.

 

I might not have thousands of finds or even hundreds, but I have seen a wide variety.

 

thanks to all that give pointers.

Edited September 30, 2012 by MrsLink10

[+fizzymagic]

Just keep trying.

 

The sense of accomplishment you will feel after finding it is priceless.

 

For me, I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night knowing where a particularly difficult hide must be...

[+kunarion]

"Still there, plain as day" seems like kind of a clue to me.

 

Are there lots of logs by more experienced cachers? If so, a 30ft radius has likely been searched pretty well. So it's an unusual hide (or the coords are off).

 

Be sure to check the satellite view, read the text, cache name, and hint. There may be clues that people have overlooked.

 

Then just give it a shot, with no preconceptions. If you expect to not find it, you won't. Try to find "good hiding spots" and look there.

 

If it's a fun place to hang out and search, take your time. If it's not all that great a place, you might just let that one go, for now. Future finders may have logs that will help you. And keep an eye on that Cache Description. If nobody finds it, the Cache Owner might add more info.

[+Panda Inc]

Sorry I can offer no clues or secrets other that it's all about the hunt. just keep reading the logs and going back. If you are the first to find expect people to be contacting you and asking for hints. It is very gratifying to find one these gems and there are some hiders out there that play the game for the hide ... and they're very good at it!

 

Good luck!

PandA Inc

[+MartyBartfast]

Check the satellite view.

 

Read the hint, and consider whether the hint might be cryptic rather than straightforward.

 

Read other peoples logs, see if you can deduce anything from them.

 

Take another pair of eyes, a friend/partner/offspring.

 

Take you time, you might need to come back a few times.

 

Sometimes I've found that standing back from the GZ and taking a wider view of the area can show up something that's out of the ordinary.

[+Isonzo Karst]

Read the logs.

 

And post your own DNFs, please.

 

I've found caches (and some FTFs in there) because of DNF logs. One cache in particular would have been a DNF for me, except for the existing DNF logs. It wasn't so much that they provided a bunch of info as much as by simply being posted, they told me not to spend time hunting a bunch of usual locations (there were 4 DNFs by experienced cachers, two were just "no joy", another was "nope" and the fourth " an hour + more of searching ")

 

The logged DNFs eliminated a bunch of places I might have hunted.

[Team Dragon Racing]

Read the logs.

 

And post your own DNFs, please.

 

I've found caches (and some FTFs in there) because of DNF logs. One cache in particular would have been a DNF for me, except for the existing DNF logs. It wasn't so much that they provided a bunch of info as much as by simply being posted, they told me not to spend time hunting a bunch of usual locations (there were 4 DNFs by experienced cachers, two were just "no joy", another was "nope" and the fourth " an hour + more of searching ")

 

The logged DNFs eliminated a bunch of places I might have hunted.

 

another thing is to check the owner other hides what do they use as containers on those if there are of the same difficultly could give you a hint especially if they developed a pattern of the same style of hiding placement

[+JJnTJ]

Have you found other hard caches by the same owner? Are his coordinates usually good?

 

There is one owner not far from me who seems to think that posting bad coordinates is a good way to make a hard hide harder. I'm pretty sure he knows better, but he does this "trick" for his "hard" hides.

[+_SWH]

Thanks everyone for the tips. Yes his hides are usually right on according to some others I've read about. I think I have a good idea now what else to look for. Even some very experienced cachers have posted a DNF! 5 months still not found! In case you're curious: GC3KPXZ

[+stijnhommes]

Based on the things I read, I suspect it's one of those fancy containers you won't recognize as a cache until you know what to look for. Good luck! It looks like a fun challenge.

[+Mike & Jess]

Read the logs.

 

And post your own DNFs, please.

 

I've found caches (and some FTFs in there) because of DNF logs. One cache in particular would have been a DNF for me, except for the existing DNF logs. It wasn't so much that they provided a bunch of info as much as by simply being posted, they told me not to spend time hunting a bunch of usual locations (there were 4 DNFs by experienced cachers, two were just "no joy", another was "nope" and the fourth " an hour + more of searching ")

 

The logged DNFs eliminated a bunch of places I might have hunted.

 

another thing is to check the owner other hides what do they use as containers on those if there are of the same difficultly could give you a hint especially if they developed a pattern of the same style of hiding placement

The bolded text is what I would suggest. It's hard to break old habbits and if you do a few of this CO's other caches, you'll get a feel for thier style. The Container might be different then what locals are use to.

 

Based on the things I read, I suspect it's one of those fancy containers you won't recognize as a cache until you know what to look for. Good luck! It looks like a fun challenge.

Sounds like one of the locals here. He bought a cantainer from an out of town shop. A couple locals found it with some effort. Some out of town cachers found it right away as they had seen this container type before.

[+Sol seaker]

I found one last week along a power trail that was a month old. The caches around it had all been found.

My friend and I began searching. She started searching at GZ. I went across the street. She asked what I was doing over there. I said if the Coords were on it would have been found already. She shrugged her shoulders and looked at me like I was nuts. It was only a couple of minutes before I yelled "found it!"

 

Even cachers who usually post good coords can make mistakes. I had one 100 feet off because my batteries were about dead. Live and learn.

 

Now all that being said, some hides are just tough.

If it's a micro you may try touching everything. That works for really tough hides in the city with good coords. There are a lot you just can't see. I've found a lot of tough ones that way.

[+Baad Daata]

I own a cache that has not been found in several months. It is a multi/puzzle so it doesn't attract everyone. Finding the road to the second stage is tricky. I have only had two dnfs and the first one was logged by an experienced and skilled geocacher known to me. I think that he gave up because of the challenging location. I got the second dnf a couple of weeks ago with a request for coordinate verification. I was able to check on it this week but rather than going to the place where I had hidden the cache I made certain to enter the coords in my gpsr and use that method to check on it. The cache was well-hidden, in place and at the posted coords. I think we make the mistake of just going to where we know we placed a cache and fail to take the opportunity to do a check of the actual coordinates. Some folks are just too proud to admit that they might have made an error in the coords or too proud to log a dnf. I did not choose the name,"baad daata" because of my confidence and lack of errors.

[Laserion]

There's one near me like that. Posted on April 1st, no one has found it yet. I even used an attribute that wasn't mentioned in the text description ("thorns!") as clue for hiding places and nothing.