"Not Found" Log Entries...

[Guest tedoca]

log entry when they DO find it, well, then five more people might be out there looking for a cache that doesn't exist AND the cache owner will never have any idea that something may be amiss with their cache.

 

Just curious how everyone else handles this.

 

Now for my DUMB question of the day... anyone know why I cant seem to use quotation marks in my postings?

 

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Always remember to burp your tupperware!

[Guest Point2Point]

Good point. I went looking for a cache the other day that I didn't find - but I figured I would go back this weekend to look again and hopefully find it. So I didn't log anything about the original search.

 

If I don't find it today I will definitely log a 'didn't find'.

[Guest Craig]

I think you should allways log it as "Couldn't find it" if you can't find it.:-)

 

As we have in this cache. so others will know that thire have been meny there looking , and could not find it.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=3859

Some day I will go back and look for it, if someone finds it. I have e-mailed the the one who placed it. But he does not want to reply.

 

[This message has been edited by Craig (edited 16 September 2001).]

[Guest ClayJar]

I *always* post a log if I went off for a cache.

 

A couple I went for this weekend were inaccessible (high water and a closed park due to a softball tourney), so I logged them both with notes saying I couldn't hunt for them but that I would be back later.

 

A little while back I hunted Pearl. I looked until a thunderstorm chased me away, and I logged a "Not Found" as soon as I got home. In it I said that I intended to return and find it. Sure enough, a few weeks later, I drove the three hours back down there and found it, and when I got back, I happily added the very first "Found" log to it.

 

I think it definitely adds useful information to post a log for every time you go for a cache. The "Other" notes let people know if I couldn't even hunt a cache for some reason; the "Not Found" notes let people know that a cache might be harder than it looks. I especially enjoyed adding the "Found" log to Pearl; people who read my "Not Found" and see that later I did find it know that it's hard but findable.

 

I've even taking to keeping a personal logbook page to let people see where and when I've been, and it lists all my activity: "Found", "Not Found", "Hidden", and "Other".

[Guest murrcat]

Yes, we log not founds. Yesterday four different groups went looking for the same cashe at different times. It had only been hidden the day before. By last night all of us had logged in that we couldn't find it. It's beginning to look like this cashe is actually a joke. So now when future cashers look at that cashe page they will read that no one has found it and that it's probably a joke and won't waste their time looking for it. The coords put it behind someone's house on private property. Some cashers were asked to leave by the homeowner. Hopefully the coords are just off a little and the owner will realize his mistake. I have emailed him but no reply yet.

 

[This message has been edited by murrcat (edited 16 September 2001).]

[Guest Prime Suspect]

quote:

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Originally posted by tedoca:

Now for my DUMB question of the day... anyone know why I cant seem to use quotation marks in my postings?

---

 

It filters out certain things, in order to prevent embedding malicious HTML or Java script code. IMO, the filtering is a bit too aggressive. There have been times where I had to delete and rewrite a post, because the filtering caused the meaning of my post to be substantially altered.

 

While you can't use normal "quotes", you can use 'single' quotes.

[Guest tedoca]

quote:

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While you can't use normal "quotes", you can use 'single' quotes.

---

 

?????

But you just did!!!

"Testing"

 

Hmmm... well, it's seems to take the quotes now. Nevermind!

 

[This message has been edited by tedoca (edited 16 September 2001).]

 

[This message has been edited by tedoca (edited 16 September 2001).]

[Guest TresOkies]

If it is a matter of conditions or simply not finding the container, I'll wait until I find it to log it. It's the neatnik in me--I can't stand to see sad icons on my page.

 

If it's something that the owner needs to know about (like a plundered cache), I'll contact them and post a log entry so others will know what to expect.

 

-E

 

[This message has been edited by TresOkies (edited 17 September 2001).]

[Guest TresOkies]

If it is a matter of conditions or simply not finding the container, I'll wait until I find it to log it. It's the neatnik in me--I can't stand to see sad icons on my page.

 

If it's something that the owner needs to know about (like a plundered cache), I'll contact them and post a log entry so others will know what to expect.

 

-E

 

[This message has been edited by TresOkies (edited 17 September 2001).]

[Guest Moun10Bike]

ogs for a cache, then others can see that something might be amiss with that cache. Also, if you don't like the frowny faces, then you can always delete them after you successfully log the find. Until then, I would encourage you to log "Not Founds," as they are helpful for others, including the cache owner.

 

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Jon (Moun10Bike)

31H/93F

N 47° 36.649', W 122° 3.616'

www.switchbacks.com/geocaching.html

[Guest ClayJar]

quote:

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Originally posted by TresOkies:

If it is a matter of conditions or simply not finding the container, I'll wait until I find it to log it. It's the neatnik in me--I can't stand to see sad icons on my page.

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I would *heartily* recommend that you at least log "Other" entries when you go out. If it is the conditions, I'll always log an "Other"-type entry just to let people know that I at least thought to try.

 

They're nice and generic, and they don't reflect at all on your foundiness, as they're not saying you couldn't find it, they're just saying that something prevented you from being able to log a find just yet.

 

Good enough, or should I compose a complete statement just for good measure (I promise not to include cheese more than twice in my logic)?

[Guest ClayJar]

quote:

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Originally posted by TresOkies:

If it is a matter of conditions or simply not finding the container, I'll wait until I find it to log it. It's the neatnik in me--I can't stand to see sad icons on my page.

---

I would *heartily* recommend that you at least log "Other" entries when you go out. If it is the conditions, I'll always log an "Other"-type entry just to let people know that I at least thought to try.

 

They're nice and generic, and they don't reflect at all on your foundiness, as they're not saying you couldn't find it, they're just saying that something prevented you from being able to log a find just yet.

 

Good enough, or should I compose a complete statement just for good measure (I promise not to include cheese more than twice in my logic)?

[Guest Cape Cod Cache]

I'm willing to admit failure... I was on top of 'Brenton Point' (236) I have met the cachers since then, a bike ride away. People have missed my caches (2156,2831), 2156 ( Crab Creek) isn't a cake walk, takes some effort.... 2831 ( Big W) is painfully easy,(1,1) I'll try again...

cache on !

[Guest Chris Juricich]

If one is unwilling to post their failures, I don't see any particular problem with that conceit. But perhaps an email to the cacher would be appropriate-- just to let that person know that there was a failure.

 

It would certainly aid the fellow in determining how difficult it was. If a person has a cache rated at 1/1 and has a series of six unsmiling emoticons, hey! That should tell him or her something.

[Guest tedoca]

quote:

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Originally posted by Moun10Bike (and seconded by ClayJar):

But what if you can't find the container because it was stolen/removed? If "Not Found" becomes the pattern in the logs for a cache, then others can see that something might be amiss with that cache. Also, if you don't like the frowny faces, then you can always delete them after you successfully log the find. Until then, I would encourage you to log "Not Founds," as they are helpful for others, including the cache owner.

 

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Amen... my point exactly! Why in the world would someone not post a "didn't find it" log entry just as readily as they would post a "found it" log entry?" Just doesn't make sense to me... I mean, if you didn't find it (first try, second try, whatever) then you didn't find it, right?

 

As I understand it this is not a competitive sport but rather a friendly game... if I goofed and got my coords wrong let me know so's I can fix it... on the other hand, if I happened to hide a clever cache that eluded you on your first try then give credit where credit is due by logging your "didn't find it."

 

I think I'll continue to log my "didn't find it's," but I also like Moun10bike and ClayJar's suggestion of at least logging your "didn't find it" until such time as you DO find it, and then deleting it later if you must.

 

Anyone else care to chime in on this one...?

 

tedoca

[Guest ClayJar]

quote:

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Originally posted by tedoca:

Amen... my point exactly! Why in the world would someone not post a "didn't find it" log entry just as readily as they would post a "found it" log entry?" Just doesn't make sense to me... I mean, if you didn't find it (first try, second try, whatever) then you didn't find it, right?

 

As I understand it this is not a competitive sport but rather a friendly game...

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I guess it all comes down to the fact that some people can't help but think of it as a competitive sport. I know that personally, I am rather competitive, but I only compete with myself to see how far I can push my limits. On top of that, I rather like logging "Not Found" entries, as it gives me a solid kick to try harder next time.

 

The one cache that I did not find the first time was sitting there with a "Not Found" on it. I went and got some flagging tape, walking sticks, and a bunch of water, and I planned a day to go back and give it all it took to get that thing found. I managed to find it without resorting to a foot-by-foot search of the whole area, but I was going to do whatever it took. Now, I have a "Found" entry there, but the "Not Found" stays there as a badge of honor -- I may get knocked down, but if it exists, I WILL find the cache.

[Guest ClayJar]

quote:

---

Originally posted by tedoca:

Amen... my point exactly! Why in the world would someone not post a "didn't find it" log entry just as readily as they would post a "found it" log entry?" Just doesn't make sense to me... I mean, if you didn't find it (first try, second try, whatever) then you didn't find it, right?

 

As I understand it this is not a competitive sport but rather a friendly game...

---

I guess it all comes down to the fact that some people can't help but think of it as a competitive sport. I know that personally, I am rather competitive, but I only compete with myself to see how far I can push my limits. On top of that, I rather like logging "Not Found" entries, as it gives me a solid kick to try harder next time.

 

The one cache that I did not find the first time was sitting there with a "Not Found" on it. I went and got some flagging tape, walking sticks, and a bunch of water, and I planned a day to go back and give it all it took to get that thing found. I managed to find it without resorting to a foot-by-foot search of the whole area, but I was going to do whatever it took. Now, I have a "Found" entry there, but the "Not Found" stays there as a badge of honor -- I may get knocked down, but if it exists, I WILL find the cache.

[Guest logscaler]

On the other hand, i went out and hunted a cache for over an hour. Came back in and went to the cace page and was going to log a could not find. Saw that the owner had a web site. Took a shot and found pictures of the missing cache. Photos not anything like the area of the cords. I went back using the photo info and went right to the cache, and my numbers differ by about 288 feet. I did log a found it but I also sent the owner a private e-mail and told him my problems and gave him the cords I had, after I averaged the mag 315 for ten (10) minutes. If I had not found it that time, I would have logged a not found. Was this Okay or not ?? TTFN

[Guest ClayJar]

What I would have done in that situation is post a note ("Other") saying that the coords given did not match the pictures. After your find, you could decide what to do with the note, but in the meantime, if someone had just decided to hunt it, they'd know that they may really need to use the pictures.

 

If I were about to leave to hunt the cache, I'd be glad to see that the pictures are necessary. There was a cache around here that had a hint that said, basically, "See the pictures on this cache's web site." It had one other tidbit that tipped me off enough to find the cache, but until I did, I was somewhat miffed.

[Guest exConn]

To me this seems easy. I log the following way:

 

Found - I was able to search for it and I found it.

 

Not Found - I was able to search for it and I did *not* find it.

 

Other - I attempted, but was *unable* to search because of an unforseen event or circumstance (park was closed when I arrived, etc). Or any other reason that does not fall under Found/Not Found above.

 

In my opinion, always log Not Found's. It helps others...

 

-exConn

[Guest arffer]

quote:

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Originally posted by exConn:

• Found - I was able to search for it and I found it.
• Not Found - I was able to search for it and I did *not* find it.
• Other - I attempted, but was *unable* to search because of an unforseen event or circumstance (park was closed when I arrived, etc).

 

In my opinion, always log Not Found's. It helps others...

---

 

Ditto

 

 

[This message has been edited by arffer (edited 21 September 2001).]

[Guest ClayJar]

Obviously, I agree wholeheartedly, as you can see in my previous ramble that says the same thing in a much less readable form.

[Guest ClayJar]

Obviously, I agree wholeheartedly, as you can see in my previous ramble that says the same thing in a much less readable form.

[Guest tecmage]

Tracy and myself went after a cache yesterday, only to not find it. There was another person that didn't find it. There were two "couldn't find" logs- the cache owner posted revised coordinates sometime during the night.

 

When we first started geocaching, we didn't post our "couldn't finds", now we do. I guess we feel that it helps the cache owner and other geocachers if they see some of the problems we had. We're not giving away additional hints.

 

Richard and Tracy

[Guest robamy]

quote:

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Originally posted by ClayJar:

I *always* post a log if I went off for a cache.

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Me too, and sure enough the one I could not find had bad coordinates.

[Guest logscaler]

I will and have posted not founds when I have used up all available resources. Until that time, I consider myself still in the hunt. As noted on the above post, I came across more information. I did find the cache and posted a e-mail back to the owner about a difference in coordinates between his and my readings. IF, at the second hunt, after using the rest of the information, I would not have found it, Then at that time I would have posted a NOT FOUND log. I have posted not found logs before and then put a watch this cache marker out. If others have found it after that time, Then I go back and try to locate it. So far, I have went back and located one and the other was comfirmed MIA. TTFN, logscaler

 

[This message has been edited by logscaler (edited 22 September 2001).]