Hiding caches in summer, delisting and removing for winter?

[+Nesslyquick]

Good morning,

A search and the FAQs didn't seem to cover this, hopefully I can get some advice here.

I live in Minnesota where the winters are harsh. I also happen to think making electronic gadget caches would be fun, and a welcome addition to our small little geocaching ecosystem that hardly contains more than traditional, puzzle, and earth caches. However, those two things don't mix well. Heck, of all the caches I've scoped out in my home area, only one had a log as of 2018, and most of the rest were unlogged since September or October.

Is it OK to list and hide a cache for the Spring/Summer/Fall months, and delist (and remove) the cache for the Winter, then relist it in the same place the next Spring? That way I can have battery-powered gadget caches with LCDs and plastic controllers without worrying so much about the cold weather destroying them (only have to worry about heat and moisture in the summer).

Thanks!

[+Max and 99]

That's a good question. I think your local reviewer would be the one to ask about this. There's an area near me that is closed to geocaching during the 2 to 2-1/2 months of hunting season. All caches in the area are disabled during that time then enabled when hunting season is over.

I hope this works out for you.

[+L0ne.R]

1 hour ago, Nesslyquick said:

Good morning,

A search and the FAQs didn't seem to cover this, hopefully I can get some advice here.

I live in Minnesota where the winters are harsh. I also happen to think making electronic gadget caches would be fun, and a welcome addition to our small little geocaching ecosystem that hardly contains more than traditional, puzzle, and earth caches. However, those two things don't mix well. Heck, of all the caches I've scoped out in my home area, only one had a log as of 2018, and most of the rest were unlogged since September or October.

Is it OK to list and hide a cache for the Spring/Summer/Fall months, and delist (and remove) the cache for the Winter, then relist it in the same place the next Spring? That way I can have battery-powered gadget caches with LCDs and plastic controllers without worrying so much about the cold weather destroying them (only have to worry about heat and moisture in the summer).

Thanks!

I had a cache that would end up frozen in the winter months. When winter set in I would disable it and every month I'd post a "the cache is still frozen" note. When the weather warmed up I confirmed it was no longer locked in ice, and the cache container and contents were in good shape then enabled it.

[+niraD]

33 minutes ago, L0ne.R said:

and every month I'd post a "the cache is still frozen" note.

This kind of communication is key. Normally, caches are temporarily disabled for only a few weeks. But I had a cache that was temporarily disabled for several months due to construction. You just have to communicate.

And I'll echo the suggestion from Max and 99, to check with your local reviewer now. You aren't the first geocache owner to deal with your area's harsh winters.

[+Nesslyquick]

Thanks to you both. I'm more concerned about removing the cache and then if someone else takes over the spot, I'd have to move it to a new location, and how that would affect the listing/cache number/find counts/etc.

I will check with my local reviewer.

[+thebruce0]

If your cache isn't archived but only disabled, then removing the container won't put it in risk of being taken over by another user.

[+Max and 99]

2 hours ago, Nesslyquick said:

Good morning,

A search and the FAQs didn't seem to cover this, hopefully I can get some advice here.

I live in Minnesota where the winters are harsh. I also happen to think making electronic gadget caches would be fun, and a welcome addition to our small little geocaching ecosystem that hardly contains more than traditional, puzzle, and earth caches. However, those two things don't mix well. Heck, of all the caches I've scoped out in my home area, only one had a log as of 2018, and most of the rest were unlogged since September or October.

Is it OK to list and hide a cache for the Spring/Summer/Fall months, and delist (and remove) the cache for the Winter, then relist it in the same place the next Spring? That way I can have battery-powered gadget caches with LCDs and plastic controllers without worrying so much about the cold weather destroying them (only have to worry about heat and moisture in the summer).

Thanks!

I had hoped (and was wrong) that by delist you really meant disable.  In your situation I would recommend disabling, not archiving

[+Nesslyquick]

Thanks for the clarification, both of you! Still a noobie when it comes to anything but finding caches!

[+cerberus1]

2 hours ago, Nesslyquick said:

Is it OK to list and hide a cache for the Spring/Summer/Fall months, and delist (and remove) the cache for the Winter, then relist it in the same place the next Spring? That way I can have battery-powered gadget caches with LCDs and plastic controllers without worrying so much about the cold weather destroying them (only have to worry about heat and moisture in the summer).

Similar to Max and 99, our rifled deer season has the most hunters present on state game lands (our largest landowner), so to abide by game land rules and keep peace with hunters, the majority of COs are sure to Temp-Disable their hides at least for that two weeks every year.  Hunting seasons present all year actually, so obviously Temp-Disables every couple weeks would probably just get a cache here archived (cachers never really sure it's there).  A mention of why we Temp-Disabled it is always in our TD log.

We Temp-Disabled a series while the trail maintenance crew repaired it, took about two months.  Again, we left that all-important message why in our TD log.

Most caches here that are able/not able to be accessed in the Winter have that attribute.  A simple working grist mill cache we have is open, but it's hiding spot is ground-level and parking never plowed, so the attribute of "Not available during winter" is on the cache page.  Some listen, others (numbers folks mostly) need to access all in the area for some odd reason.  Couple years ago, because of snow one had to be towed from parking and griped about it in their log.  My note afterwards simply said that the "Not available in Winter" attributes is on the cache page...  If you're looking to TD a cache every time it gets cold out, I'd be sure to have that attribute on the cache page as well.

Asking your Reviewer would be the best bet in your situation.  Are other "gadget" caches TD when it simply gets cold?   The Reviewer may compare it to other, similar caches in the area, and you'd get your answer.   BTW, with a Temp Disable, you never lose your "spot".  Only when you Archive a hide do you "lose" it's location..    Good luck. 

[mac367]

There is a fun cache in our area that is in a duck decoy in the middle of a pond.  The trick is figuring out a way to retrieve the duck.  No wading, swimming or boats allowed.  Every fall as the pond starts to ice up the owner disables the cache and removes the duck.  In the spring he puts in back in play and enables for another season.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

On 3/15/2018 at 9:48 AM, Max and 99 said:

That's a good question. I think your local reviewer would be the one to ask about this. There's an area near me that is closed to geocaching during the 2 to 2-1/2 months of hunting season. All caches in the area are disabled during that time then enabled when hunting season is over.

I hope this works out for you.

There are similar areas where I live which are "closed during winter" and one could actually get cited or even arrested for trespassing for entering these areas.  These trails are typically in gorges where ice build up/in on the rocks can make the trail treacherous.  There was a cache placed in 2001 in one of these gorges that was disabled every year (the cache wasn't actually removed) over winter, and we get some really long winters.  Eventually,  the trail had deteriorated to the point where some significant maintenance had to be done which lasted well more than just a few months and the cache was archived.  There's at least a couple of newer caches in that gorge now.

It's fairly common for a cache to be temporarily  disabled when a cache has been hidden in a spot which subsequently becomes a construction zone, but I don't what a reviewer might say about a cache that would otherwise be accessible and was disabled just to prevent winter weather affecting the electronics.  Sometime "temporary" can last quite a while and a reviewer might send a canned message  which has something like "you cache has been disabled for an unreasonably long time" but as long as you keep the reviewer informed of the conditions responsible for disabling the cache they're usually pretty lenient.