Replacing Boring Caches with Better Ones

[+CeraWithaC]

Have you ever had a great idea for a cache, only to find that the location you wanted to hide it at is already taken by a much less interesting cache? Is there a polite way to suggest that someone's cache be replaced? Or is there any way to get past the minimum distance between caches rule?

Edited April 3, 2018 by CeraWithaC

[+Max and 99]

No polite way to tell someone that their cache is boring and you want the spot.

20 minutes ago, CeraWithaC said:

Have you ever had a great idea for a cache, only to find that the location you wanted to hide it at is already taken by a much less interesting cache? Is there a polite way to suggest that someone's cache be replaced? Or is there any way to get past the minimum distance between caches rule?

 

[+Viajero Perdido]

...and no way to get past the minimum distance rule.  Sorry.

Search farther and wider for another suitable spot.

[+captnemo]

1 hour ago, CeraWithaC said:

Have you ever had a great idea for a cache, only to find that the location you wanted to hide it at is already taken by a much less interesting cache? Is there a polite way to suggest that someone's cache be replaced? Or is there any way to get past the minimum distance between caches rule?

There is no way to ask someone to let you replace their boring cache.  However a Nice, Polite request including a description of the cache you wish to place  to the CO won't  hurt anything.  

I have an idea for a cache that I think is great that is too close to another cache. Sent the CO an email, never heard back, oh well will just have to wait or make it a Multi with the start point at the interesting spot.

 

[+kunarion]

1 hour ago, CeraWithaC said:

Have you ever had a great idea for a cache, only to find that the location you wanted to hide it at is already taken by a much less interesting cache? Is there a polite way to suggest that someone's cache be replaced? Or is there any way to get past the minimum distance between caches rule?

It depends on the situation and the cache owner. I place caches mainly because a cool spot and a fun idea kind of came together, and it's been a pretty empty place. I don't think any of mine are boring. If I can improve them, I'll do it myself. Yes, I found a great spot, but that's part of the idea: Point out a great spot for a cache. You know, go point out another spot.

But none of mine are placed with the intention of preventing a very cool cache from being there. I'd hope you'd mention your idea in some way. You could do that in your find log. “This would be the perfect spot for the Arduino gadget cache I built!”, or whatever. If you understand that the reason there's some “boring” micro is, say, because no “exciting” container has endured in that spot, and you account for that in your cool idea, I'd work with you on the plans, if it were my cache that's in the way.  Sometimes the cache that's in the way is my own cache, and I create a whole new one.  A nicer one.

Locals do post “difficulty” adjustment suggestions in their logs. Suggestions and comments about the place are not uncommon in logs. On one of my caches, someone pointed out that there are three different kinds of trees growing “from one trunk”, a few feet from the cache container. That's pretty cool! I might somehow add that to the cache page even if I can't move the container.

Edited April 3, 2018 by kunarion

[+nutlady]

Do you know the hider? I have this problem often. And I have been asked by other geocachers if they could have my spot. Depending on the cache, I have archived a few that I can think of, it was lame anyway. I myself, do not mind archiving caches that are by my own opinion, sub par for something better. I always appreciate quality caches.

[+kunarion]

24 minutes ago, nutlady said:

Do you know the hider? I have this problem often. And I have been asked by other geocachers if they could have my spot. Depending on the cache, I have archived a few that I can think of, it was lame anyway. I myself, do not mind archiving caches that are by my own opinion, sub par for something better. I always appreciate quality caches.

 

I haven't approached anyone about clearing a spot for me.  But I have placed a cache in a place where a friend previously archived a cache.  I asked if he was planning a new cache, and asked if he'd mind if I placed my own, and he was fine with it.  So instead of "kunarion" listed on the cache page, I used my caching team's name instead (until then, one person was on the team, me), and gave the previous CO credit for discovering the cool spot.  If my cache was even half the legend of the previous one, that would be great!

Maybe you ("nutlady") would like to see the name of my cache team:

Someone at work once asked me to hand him some "free running nuts", and commented that "it would be a cool name for a rock band".  And I decided it would be cooler as a Geocaching Team Name.

Edited April 3, 2018 by kunarion

[+nutlady]

3 minutes ago, kunarion said:

LOVE IT! I was labeled nutlady before geocaching existyed. Was not my first choice , that was taken. Nutlady stuck.

I haven't approached anyone about clearing a spot for me.  But I have placed a cache in a place where a friend previously archived a cache.  I asked if he was planning a new cache, and asked if he'd mind if I placed my own, and he was fine with it.  So instead of "kunarion" listed on the cache page, I used my caching team's name instead (until then, one person was on the team, me), and gave the previous CO credit for discovering the cool spot.  If my cache was even half the legend of the previous one, that would be great!

Maybe you ("nutlady") would like to see the name of my cache team:

 

Someone at work once asked me to hand him sone "free running nuts", and commented that "it would be a cool name for a rock band".  And I decided it would be cooler as a Geocaching Team Name.

 

[+cerberus1]

For me, the cache is secondary to it's location.  This is a location hobby/game, with "the language of location" being the message for some time.  I'm just as happy with a mediocre (but dry...) "cache" if the location is a great view, or unique area/feature. 

Opinions vary on how the hobby's played and what's "interesting", but for me a so-so spot could have an awesome hide and I could care less.  We do few 1.5/1.5 hides anymore, as (to us) most seem in nondescript areas, some identical to the one before it.

I think a suggestion to replace another's cache just because they didn't find it interesting is an example of how entitled some feel today. 

 

Edited April 3, 2018 by cerberus1

[+CeraWithaC]

2 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:

For me, the cache is secondary to it's location.  This is a location hobby/game, with "the language of location" being the message for some time.  I'm just as happy with a mediocre (but dry...) "cache" if the location is a great view, or unique area/feature. 

Opinions vary on how the hobby's played and what's "interesting", but for me a so-so spot could have an awesome hide and I could care less.  We do few 1.5/1.5 hides anymore, as (to us) most seem in nondescript areas, some identical to the one before it.

I feel a suggestion to replace another's cache just because they didn't find it interesting is an example of how entitled some feel today. 

 

I think "entitled" is just a popular buzzword that fails to convey anything of substance about my intentions. What I want is to improve the quality of Geocaches for everyone, and in my opinion hiding a pill bottle under the skirt on a lightpost is just a waste if there is a much better way to hide it that actually highlights what's interesting about the location, rather than distracting from it.
If making suggestions for how to improve something makes someone "entitled" than nothing would ever get better.

[+Max and 99]

What would you say if someone approached you and suggested you let them have the spot.you hid a cache since they could do a better job than the lame cache you placed? YOU may think it was a good cache, but they think they can do better, and afterall, they're just trying to improve the quality of caches.

[+CeraWithaC]

Just now, Max and 99 said:

What would you say if someone approached you and suggested you let them have the spot.you hid a cache since they could do a better job than the lame cache you placed? YOU may think it was a good cache, but they think they can do better, and afterall, they're just trying to improve the quality of caches.

I would say "cool, let's hear your idea". If it really would make it more interesting to find, then why wouldn't I want to hear other people's ideas? However, I would also mention that there are much more mature and tactful ways to suggest ideas for improving a cache then saying "that they could do a better job than the lame cache you placed". I certainly wouldn't say that to someone if I were trying to work with them to improve something.

[+cerberus1]

2 minutes ago, CeraWithaC said:

I think "entitled" is just a popular buzzword that fails to convey anything of substance about my intentions. What I want is to improve the quality of Geocaches for everyone, and in my opinion hiding a pill bottle under the skirt on a lightpost is just a waste if there is a much better way to hide it that actually highlights what's interesting about the location, rather than distracting from it.
If making suggestions for how to improve something makes someone "entitled" than nothing would ever get better.

Some folks want to go after those "pill bottles under a lamppost skirt".  Some may be handicapped or unable to hit trails and that's the only caching they can physically do (we know many).  Others may be numbers/stat junkies and they want every cache easy/simple to find and sign, so they can move along to the next.  With all the different ways this hobby is played, if one believes they're going to "better the hobby"  by placing a cache with one of their own design, that is only their opinion.

[+CeraWithaC]

20 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:

Some folks want to go after those "pill bottles under a lamppost skirt".  Some may be handicapped or unable to hit trails and that's the only caching they can physically do (we know many).  Others may be numbers/stat junkies and they want every cache easy/simple to find and sign, so they can move along to the next.  With all the different ways this hobby is played, if one believes they're going to "better the hobby"  by placing a cache with one of their own design, that is only their opinion.

Yeah, that's a good point. I guess everyone has different reasons for caching. Maybe it would help if I explained the particular cache I have in mind so you can see what I mean. The cache is located at a "shoe tree" (a local oddity where people throw their shoes up in the branches of this huge tree). When I found out about the tree, I thought "oh cool, I bet there's a cache container hidden inside one of the shoes!". However, the cache is just located next to a barbed wire fence on the ground nearby. It's a micro cache and would easily fit inside a shoe. And then the cache description could describe the shoes to look for etc. That way, you'd really get to interact with the shoe tree.

You're right that it is just my opinion that that would be much more fun, but I also think it would be easier to find and access, which would suit those that are just looking for a quick find, etc. The bottom line is that I think me and the CO could possibly discuss this and find the best solution. With the explosion of Geocaches being hidden everywhere, I think we'd have better quality control if collaboration were a part of the process.

I think why this one bothers me is that it's such a perfect location for those of us that like to find caches hidden in interesting ways. It seems like a waste of the space to have it be of interest only to those who are looking for a quick find.

Edited April 3, 2018 by CeraWithaC

[+CeraWithaC]

10 minutes ago, Manville Possum said:

 

Is this Shoe Tree already listed on the Waymarking site? 

I just checked and it's not there, so I'll add it!

[+Max and 99]

34 minutes ago, CeraWithaC said:

Yeah, that's a good point. I guess everyone has different reasons for caching. Maybe it would help if I explained the particular cache I have in mind so you can see what I mean. The cache is located at a "shoe tree" (a local oddity where people throw their shoes up in the branches of this huge tree). When I found out about the tree, I thought "oh cool, I bet there's a cache container hidden inside one of the shoes!". However, the cache is just located next to a barbed wire fence on the ground nearby. It's a micro cache and would easily fit inside a shoe. And then the cache description could describe the shoes to look for etc. That way, you'd really get to interact with the shoe tree.

You're right that it is just my opinion that that would be much more fun, but I also think it would be easier to find and access, which would suit those that are just looking for a quick find, etc. The bottom line is that I think me and the CO could possibly discuss this and find the best solution. With the explosion of Geocaches being hidden everywhere, I think we'd have better quality control if collaboration were a part of the process.

I think why this one bothers me is that it's such a perfect location for those of us that like to find caches hidden in interesting ways. It seems like a waste of the space to have it be of interest only to those who are looking for a quick find.

It is not uncommon at all for shoes to disappear from shoe trees. A cache as you describe would need to be checked on often. I do remember finding a cache we found very similar to what you describe. I'll have to see if I can find that listing.

[+Max and 99]

I searched and only found one Nevada shoe tree online. Is this possibly it? There's a cache 345 feet from it.

http://www.Waymarking.com/waymarks/WM1K67_Loneliest_Highway_Shoe_Tree

 

[garyo1954]

3 minutes ago, CeraWithaC said:

I just checked and it's not there, so I'll add it!

Use your idea on the Loneliest Highway Shoe Tree on HWY 50. It's in Churchill County Nevada.

[+Max and 99]

1 minute ago, garyo1954 said:

Use your idea on the Loneliest Highway Shoe Tree on HWY 50. It's in Churchill County Nevada.

Two geocaches are very close to that shoe tree.

[+WarNinjas]

Sounds like a neat idea to me. All you can do is contact the CO and see what he or she says.

If it was our hide when we first started we didn't want to archive any we put out.  We kept them all active for over 5 years before archiving any.  But still if it was a good idea and our cache didn't have over 10 favorites or was special we would make room for you.  I would also probably look at your history of cache hiding/maintaining hides.  I wouldn't want to archive one of ours for you to put out this cool hide and then not take care of it.  You don't have a history of maintaining hides but also don't have a history of not maintaining them.

In this situation I would archive our hide to let you make this one but that is just me. 

Send them a message and let us know how it goes.  Hope you can make it!

[garyo1954]

Okay......didn't check on caches. Looked for shoe trees in Churchill County, Nevada.

 

[+CeraWithaC]

2 minutes ago, Max and 99 said:

I searched and only found one Nevada shoe tree online. Is this possibly it? There's a cache 345 feet from it.

http://www.Waymarking.com/waymarks/WM1K67_Loneliest_Highway_Shoe_Tree

 

It's an interesting story actually. That was the old shoe tree, but it was chopped down by vandals a couple years ago, much to the dismay of the community. So recently people have started this new shoe tree, and a new cache was placed there (I don't think the cache from the old tree was placed by the same person though). 

[garyo1954]

Very interesting indeed.......I believe this is the old tree....
 

Reporting from Middlegate, Nev. — Fredda Stevenson sized up the despondent young man who'd slunk into her remote watering hole on U.S. Highway 50. He was thirsting for beer and, as Stevenson learned, advice.

His new bride, he grumbled, had blown all their cash on slot machines in Reno. Then they'd sped east through 100 miles of sagebrush and hills as dark and lumpy as mud pies. They camped down the road from Stevenson's bar, near a large cottonwood tree that had inexplicably thrived in Nevada's badlands. The couple started quarreling.

She threatened to walk home. He snatched her shoes, hurled them into the cottonwood's branches and said: Go ahead. Try. He stormed off with the car and ended up two miles away, at Old Middlegate Station. He polished off two beers before listening to Stevenson's sage counsel:

"You want to be married for the rest of your life? You better learn to say 'I'm sorry' now."

As Stevenson told it, the groom shuffled back and apologized. Then, at his bride's insistence, he hurled his own shoes into the tree.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/16/nation/la-na-shoe-tree-20110217

 

 

[+WarNinjas]

Seeing the cache, it does have a active CO and has 5 favorites.  It also seems to point out the tree and the CO has moved it further away because it was muggled.  If it was our hide it would already be in a shoe and at the top of the tree with a 4 terrain to get to it!    Still doesn't hurt to ask!

[+Max and 99]

13 minutes ago, CeraWithaC said:

It's an interesting story actually. That was the old shoe tree, but it was chopped down by vandals a couple years ago, much to the dismay of the community. So recently people have started this new shoe tree, and a new cache was placed there (I don't think the cache from the old tree was placed by the same person though). 

Just as a courtesy you may want to notify the person who waymarked the old shoe tree and let them know the status. According to her profile she does not live in that state and may not know that the tree was chopped down. I suspect if he!she was aware, she'd indicate it was gone. I bet she would really appreciate the update.

*Use your geocaching name and password to log into the way marking site.

[+CeraWithaC]

35 minutes ago, garyo1954 said:

Very interesting indeed.......I believe this is the old tree....
 

Reporting from Middlegate, Nev. — Fredda Stevenson sized up the despondent young man who'd slunk into her remote watering hole on U.S. Highway 50. He was thirsting for beer and, as Stevenson learned, advice.

His new bride, he grumbled, had blown all their cash on slot machines in Reno. Then they'd sped east through 100 miles of sagebrush and hills as dark and lumpy as mud pies. They camped down the road from Stevenson's bar, near a large cottonwood tree that had inexplicably thrived in Nevada's badlands. The couple started quarreling.

She threatened to walk home. He snatched her shoes, hurled them into the cottonwood's branches and said: Go ahead. Try. He stormed off with the car and ended up two miles away, at Old Middlegate Station. He polished off two beers before listening to Stevenson's sage counsel:

"You want to be married for the rest of your life? You better learn to say 'I'm sorry' now."

As Stevenson told it, the groom shuffled back and apologized. Then, at his bride's insistence, he hurled his own shoes into the tree.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/16/nation/la-na-shoe-tree-20110217

 

 

Yep that's the one!

[+CeraWithaC]

21 minutes ago, Max and 99 said:

Just as a courtesy you may want to notify the person who waymarked the old shoe tree and let them know the status. According to her profile she does not live in that state and may not know that the tree was chopped down. I suspect if he!she was aware, she'd indicate it was gone. I bet she would really appreciate the update.

*Use your geocaching name and password to log into the way marking site.

Yeah I will definitely do that. (Thanks for the tip about using your GC login info for the Waymarking site, I was just having that problem, heh).

[+CeraWithaC]

31 minutes ago, WarNinjas said:

Seeing the cache, it does have a active CO and has 5 favorites.  It also seems to point out the tree and the CO has moved it further away because it was muggled.  If it was our hide it would already be in a shoe and at the top of the tree with a 4 terrain to get to it!    Still doesn't hurt to ask!

Thanks for looking into that, I didn't know it had been previously muggled, that must be why they moved it. But yeah, maybe we can come up with a way to hide it in a shoe without attracting the attention of muggles, heheh.

[+WarNinjas]

1 minute ago, CeraWithaC said:

Thanks for looking into that, I didn't know it had been previously muggled, that must be why they moved it. But yeah, maybe we can come up with a way to hide it in a shoe without attracting the attention of muggles, heheh.

I'm sure it can be done.

[+CeraWithaC]

9 minutes ago, Manville Possum said:

Geocachers will do anything for a smiley. How did that shoe tree get chopped down? 

It was chopped down by vandals. According to my mom, who has lived here for 25 years and knows a lot about this kind of stuff, it was a couple of the military guys that were stationed at the nearby naval air base, but that's just hearsay as far as I know.

[+arisoft]

7 hours ago, CeraWithaC said:

Have you ever had a great idea for a cache, only to find that the location you wanted to hide it at is already taken by a much less interesting cache? Is there a polite way to suggest that someone's cache be replaced? Or is there any way to get past the minimum distance between caches rule?

I have managed to get some good locations by waiting until geocachers have destroyed the previous cache and it is archived due to lack of maintenance. One interesting location was originally too close to another cache, but I was not fast enough and someone else placed cache exactly where I was planning a new cache. Now that second cache gets archived recently and I finally made a reservation for the location. You have to be patient and wait for your turn.

Edited April 3, 2018 by arisoft

[+justintim1999]

There's no harm in asking as long as your respectful about it.    I've asked cache owners to consider allowing me to adopt their caches in that area if they ever decided to archive them.  The one time I did this I was surprised to discover that the owners were thinking about archiving already.  They jumped at the offer of adoption.   This actually worked out well.  Since I was the new owner I didn't have to worry about someone swooping in and placing a cache along the trail while I worked on my series.  When I was ready I archived the listing and placed my new caches.    

[+L0ne.R]

43 minutes ago, justintim1999 said:

There's no harm in asking as long as your respectful about it.    I've asked cache owners to consider allowing me to adopt their caches in that area if they ever decided to archive them.  The one time I did this I was surprised to discover that the owners were thinking about archiving already.  They jumped at the offer of adoption.   This actually worked out well.  Since I was the new owner I didn't have to worry about someone swooping in and placing a cache along the trail while I worked on my series.  When I was ready I archived the listing and placed my new caches.    

 

Doesn't that get the original owners angry? Did they assume their cache would continue to live on and you were offering to keep it alive?

[+justintim1999]

4 minutes ago, L0ne.R said:

Doesn't that get the original owners angry? Did they assume their cache would continue to live on and you were offering to keep it alive?

Nope because I tell them up front what my plans are.   There are some instances where I may be willing and able to incorporate their cache into my series.  If I really want the location and that's the only way to get it than I'd consider doing that.  

Edited April 3, 2018 by justintim1999

[+DragonsWest]

I lugged out a very heavy cache container on Sunday, hoping after all the hills and sun and wind that I'd find an open spot for a cache.  Oddly enough, I did.  And it's a great idea for a cache even if I say so myself (yeah, I know about people whispering behind my back about what a nut I am) but this, this will get favorite points by the bucket (well, assuming bucketloads of cachers hikd out to it.)   The name was intended to be a mild bit of humor (who expects that out here?) But there was something in store for me when I saw the GC code it got, out of pure random luck of the draw.  So... if this container ever goes missing, I'll have to find more weird junk to replace it with because the idea is cool.  Does that make me a rotten old so-and-so who is now nailing down a location?

 

https://coord.info/GC7MEGA (Note: you don't get no biggie event souvenir for attending this cache)

[+Michaelcycle]

From the article listed above:

Charles Brown, a 53-year-old truck driver who lives nearby, often winced at the footwear weighing down the cottonwood's branches.

"I felt sorry for the tree. It degraded it. Trees take a lifetime to grow out here," he said.

Also from that article:

There were so many shoes in the tree that, every few months, state workers hauled off several truckloads' worth — as well as couches, bicycles and kitchen sinks that littered the ground nearby.

 

I'm with Mr Brown on this one. "Shoe" trees are not my idea of a good idea unless they are in a closet.

[+L0ne.R]

3 hours ago, justintim1999 said:

Nope because I tell them up front what my plans are.   There are some instances where I may be willing and able to incorporate their cache into my series.  If I really want the location and that's the only way to get it than I'd consider doing that.  

I wonder why they preferred that you take possession of the listing and archive it? Personally, I'd prefer to archive my own cache hides. It stays in my account.

[+niraD]

One of my Favorites uses a hide technique that is specific to a certain location. The cache description thanks another geocacher for moving another cache to make room for it. So it can be done, and the geocachers involved can even remain friends afterwards.

But it's probably a good idea to avoid phrases like "much less interesting" or "just a waste" when discussing the existing cache with its owner.

[+dprovan]

4 minutes ago, niraD said:

But it's probably a good idea to avoid phrases like "much less interesting" or "just a waste" when discussing the existing cache with its owner.

Yeah, this is really the bottom line. If you have a really great idea for a location, then describe it to the other CO and see if you can get him excited enough to let you have the area. If you can't do that, then I have to wonder if you're just bias, thinking your cache is so much better for no reason other than it's your cache. And even if you don't say that out loud, if that's what you're thinking, the other CO is going to recognize that, so you can expect his reaction to be less than friendly.

[+cerberus1]

12 hours ago, Max and 99 said:

It is not uncommon at all for shoes to disappear from shoe trees. A cache as you describe would need to be checked on often. I do remember finding a cache we found very similar to what you describe.

Agreed.  We've done two, both were popular local spots/landmarks/hangouts.   Both had a micro container far enough away so the locals didn't make maintenance a nightmare.  One in another state has the borough roads crew cart all the sneakers & shoes off when they get gross from the weather, and within a few weeks it's full again.     When we went there birds were nesting in some.  

[+NYPaddleCacher]

1 hour ago, cerberus1 said:

Agreed.  We've done two, both were popular local spots/landmarks/hangouts.   Both had a micro container far enough away so the locals didn't make maintenance a nightmare.  One in another state has the borough roads crew cart all the sneakers & shoes off when they get gross from the weather, and within a few weeks it's full again.     When we went there birds were nesting in some.  

There were a couple of trees at a maritime college in Maine that were full of shoes.  I was told that it's an rite of passage to throw ones shoes in the trees upon graduation, and that a few weeks after graduation the shoes are removed to make room for the next graduating class.

[+justintim1999]

2 hours ago, L0ne.R said:

I wonder why they preferred that you take possession of the listing and archive it? Personally, I'd prefer to archive my own cache hides. It stays in my account.

I'm not sure they preferred it.  What was their alternative?   Keep a cache they didn't want to maintain any longer?  Archive it and hope a responsible cache owner claims the spot?   They knew me from some of my other hides and liked the idea of new caches along that particular trail.     

On a side note  I decided to re-gain permission from the conservation trust that managed the land.   They commented that geocaching would be a great way to bring people to the  property but would need to vote on it first.   That's when I realized the original owners may have placed their cache without permission.   Even if your adopting someone else's cache you should seek your own permission before you take ownership. 

Edited April 3, 2018 by justintim1999

[+CAVinoGal]

On 4/2/2018 at 6:40 PM, CeraWithaC said:

Have you ever had a great idea for a cache, only to find that the location you wanted to hide it at is already taken by a much less interesting cache? 

Our first "hide" turned out to be a very interesting experience.  The location we had chosen and the hide style seemed perfect - till we discovered via the reviewer that there was a nearby mystery with a final too close (turns out it was only about 10 feet too close!) We solved the mystery, found the cache and logged it, then contacted the CO to see if he could move it slightly so it would be far enough away.  To our surprise, and delight, he said he'd just archive it as everyone local had solved and found it, and he was willing to give up the spot.  WOW.  That first cache of ours is still active a year later (after a few rough spots at the beginning) and I'm still impressed at how cooperative the CO of the "conflicting" cache was with us as newbies.  We know him a bit better now, and he has a LOT of hides, and I get why he was OK with "giving up" his spot.  Back then, though, it was impressively fun!

[+Max and 99]

That's awesome!

[+barefootjeff]

1 hour ago, CAVinoGal said:

Our first "hide" turned out to be a very interesting experience.  The location we had chosen and the hide style seemed perfect - till we discovered via the reviewer that there was a nearby mystery with a final too close (turns out it was only about 10 feet too close!) We solved the mystery, found the cache and logged it, then contacted the CO to see if he could move it slightly so it would be far enough away.  To our surprise, and delight, he said he'd just archive it as everyone local had solved and found it, and he was willing to give up the spot.  WOW.  That first cache of ours is still active a year later (after a few rough spots at the beginning) and I'm still impressed at how cooperative the CO of the "conflicting" cache was with us as newbies.  We know him a bit better now, and he has a LOT of hides, and I get why he was OK with "giving up" his spot.  Back then, though, it was impressively fun!

That sounds like a good outcome all round. I've sometimes pondered how I'd react if someone asked me to surrender one of my caches to make way for something they were planning. While this area is far from being saturated, I have placed caches in many of the more scenic bushland spots that were cacheless at the time and not tied up by national parks. Many of those are multis or puzzles that get few finds, particularly now that all the locals have done them, so yes, on the whole I think I'd be happy to put them aside for someone else's something new. In the words of Peter Straub and Stephen King in The Talisman, you can only express your ownership of a thing in terms of how freely you could give it up.