Put It Where I Thought it Should Be.

[+colleda]

I recently saw this Found It log on one of my caches.

 

Found it

08/05/2022

Hard one to find put more where the coordinates are.

 

On seeing this I thought I should check it and, as it happened, it was conveniently close to another of mine that had gone missing which I was replacing today.

Not knowing the accuracy of the finder's device, and seeing also that he/she/they were novices, I was expecting I may have a bit of a search in front of me. I got to GZ and found, to my surprise, the cache was less than a metre from where it was supposed to be but a little more exposed than it was. Hmm. Not sure what happened here unless a previous finder had replaced it further from GZ than where the last finder found it.

 

Has anyone had any unusual/interesting logs where a finder thought a cache was not in the correct spot and put it where they thought it should be?

 

 

 

[+lee737]

Nobody admitted to it, but one of ours, a rubber snake (in a particularly bad GPS spot), migrated about 10m in all directions before I shifted it and cable tied it in place.....

[+barefootjeff]

1 hour ago, lee737 said:

Nobody admitted to it, but one of ours, a rubber snake (in a particularly bad GPS spot), migrated about 10m in all directions before I shifted it and cable tied it in place.....

 

Again nothing mentioned in the logs, but after all the heavy rains I recently went to check on one of mine that had been last found in late March. There was no cache in its hiding place so I thought it must have washed out and either floated away or been seen by a muggle and taken. Crestfallen, I was about to head back to the car when I thought I'd just do one more search around the area and spotted it tucked under a ledge behind a rock about a metre away from where it was meant to be. Ironically, that had been my initial choice of hiding place except there's a deep cavity at the back of the crevice that I was worried the cache might slip down into so I opted for the other more secure spot. The finders in March had been a pair of cachers so it's possible one of them may have made the find and then gave it to the other one to put back without telling him where it had been. Maybe I should cable-tie that one to its hiding place, or put it on the end of a retractable spring.

[+Jayeffel]

I have seen several logs where a relatively newbie cacher ( by checking the cacher's stats) would remark found out but out it in a better place. One cache I remember reading the  log where a cacher found the cache but remarked he put it back where but was supposed to be - no indication that any communication with CO occurred. 

 

The only times placed  a cache in a spot I did not find it was when the cache was on the ground, or else in a compromised position. I do notate logs when that is done, I may not give explicit details other than to the CO.

[+Wadcutter]

Several years ago I had a cache out that was found by a cacher with over 10,000 finds.  The cache was a 3 terrain.  I had in the description to replace the cache where it was originally placed.  The cache was easily seen but the trick was figuring a way to get to it.  The high round count finder said it was too hard for the average cacher therefore he rehid it where it would be easier for people to get to.  I suspect the real reason he rehid it was because he didn't want to make the effort to rehide it in the original location.

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by Wadcutter

[+cerberus1]

6 hours ago, colleda said:

Has anyone had any unusual/interesting logs where a finder thought a cache was not in the correct spot and put it where they thought it should be?

 

We had a few like that, starting as GPS was improving, and then with the beginning of phone caching.

Most were someone who thought their new gizmo was the most accurate of anyone's, and was matching the hide to it's "correct" coordinates.

[+niraD]

I've found a couple that were in the middle of the trail, completely exposed. I rehid them as best I could, based on my GPS readings and on the information available in the cache descriptions/hints. But I also described exactly where I rehid them in private email to the owners.

[+LewisFlyers]

First noticed this with GC1ZREB. Cache was placed where another user thought it should be. Then was found once more before disappearing. Three feet to either side of the location doesn't make the container any less exposed than it already was leaving it either in a ditch to be hit by the county lawn mower or lost under the water depending on which direction the cache was placed.

[+DarkZen_EvilCowPie]

On 5/8/2022 at 12:26 AM, colleda said:

Has anyone had any unusual/interesting logs where a finder thought a cache was not in the correct spot

Hoo-boy, Lordy yes. But the king of all my walking hides was Blue Suede Shoes. It was a migrating phenom. I think the most it migrated was 50 feet (I found it that time quite by accident). There was nothing special about it - just a standard cache in the woods... an ammo can actually. But it seemed every time I checked on it, it was in a different spot.

[+xLoreleix]

I have made the mistake twice of putting a cache back closer to where the coordinates were leading me. Both times I made a note in my log stating that I had moved the cache closer to the spot I thought they were supposed to be. The second time the CO got on my case about this in a private message and it finally hit me that I wasn't being helpful at all (I genuinely thought the cacher(s) before me had probably returned the cache to the wrong spot). The CO used the number of finds I had to scold me about "etiquette" and it was really, really discouraging. I just apologized and gave the exact location I placed the cache so the CO could return it to the proper spot, but I am a very sensitive person and I felt terrible about it for quite a while afterwards.

 

I really wish I had known ahead of time that I didn't need to be so focused on the exact GPS coordinates because not only did I end up having to log a few DNFs (the caches were there and I just couldn't find them) due to this hyper-focus on the coordinates but I also almost completely gave up on the hobby because I felt so bad after being reprimanded by a more experienced cacher. Makes me wonder if there is some way to "warn" newer cachers that it is completely normal for coordinates to be off by a certain amount or if that is just part of the hobby and people like me will always need to learn the hard way. I suspect the latter might be true.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to post my experience of being on the other end here because it seemed like the appropriate place. I decided I am not going to let this incident ruin the hobby for me because it really has been fantastic otherwise and I have seen the most incredible places I would have never known to seek out without the help of COs and their thoughtful cache placement!

[+ras_oscar]

Except for rare occasion, I always replace the cache where I found it. Unless i am the CO, I have no idea where a cache "belongs", I only know where I found it.  If the coordinates are significantly off the current location I will add to my log " found XXX feet from posted coordinates" That will alert the CO to check the hide and/or their coordinates accuracy if appropriate.

 

The  rare occasion is when I find a standard size container in plain view. My first choice is to add camo to help conceal the container from muggles. If that is not possible, I may choose to move it up to 3 or 4 feet  to a more concealed position. If so I will add to my log something like "Found container in the open, moved xx feet to a more modest location" That alerts the CO that the container has been moved, and how far it has been moved.

 

 

[+little-leggs]

Return or Replace ?

[+ras_oscar]

Replace:  to restore to a former place or position

 

Return:  to restore to a former or to a normal state

 

Replace

 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/replace