Not Found Vs Note

[+Life Journey]

I went looking for Mississippi Welcomes You on my way home from visiting family for the holidays - at the MS welcome station right across the AL border. I slogged around in very wet leaves and pine needles and 2 inches of water in some places - got my arms and legs scratched up REALLY bad - poked in a bunch of areas (lots of hiding places here) - couldn't get a very good signal - lots of tree cover and very overcast (cloudy) - spent lots of time trying to figure out the meaning of clue #2 - never did find the thing - but I had a GREAT time trying!

 

Here's my question - I think the cache is there - it is my limited ability (I'm still new) that caused me not to find it. So I don't want to alarm the owner by posting a no find, so do I just post a note to tell my story (of course I just told it here!)?

 

BTW - what I learned from this:

 

1) socks and slip on tennis shoes are not good geocaching footwear.

2) shorts and t-shirts are not good geocaching attire.

3) I need to learn how to use a compass

 

[+mattt]

I would log a not found and explain your story just like you did for this thread.

 

Thh cache owner would see that the cache probably is not gone - just as you explained - you think you didn't find the hiding spot because a number of factors.

[+Tiwica]

It's up to you. If you want feedback from the cache owner, I think either would work. Whatever preference you have for logging or not logging DNF's is your call. If you think it may just be you, give it another shot or two and then raise the alarm flags

[+Touchstone]

I usually post a DNF on my first try. I'll wait to see if someone else can find it, and if they do, I'll keep posting DNF's (figuring it's just me). If I don't see anyone go back to the cache for awhile I may try again, post another DNF and if I'm pretty sure I was in the right place, email the owner to see if I was right or not.

 

It's kind of up to you how you want to do the bookeeping of your DNF's. Don't be afraid to post something at least (even a note is helpful), to alert the owner, and to warn future cachers that something may be wrong.

[+OurWoods]

If I didn't find then I post a "Did Not Find"

If I am revisiting a cache I have already been to I "post a note"

 

A "didn't find" shouldn't be an alarm to a cache owner, unless they start to pile up. Sometimes conditions aren't right and you just can't find it.

 

that's just me though..

[+Johnnie Stalkers]

I have been completely skunked by 1 or 2 level caches several times, only to return later and walk right up to the darn thing and find it in the first place I look. Some days you eat the bar and somedays he eats you. Nothing wrong with logging a DNF and as stated above it helps the cache owner determine a problem. If several DNFs pile and the are no finds the cache owner will go check. If DNFs go unreported the cache owner just thinks nobody likes him and his cache stinks.

 

Glad you had a good day. Put on some long pants and try again!

[+DustyJacket]

If I look for it and don't find it, I log a DNF. (Some later erase their DNFs after they find the cache, but I do not.)

 

If I don't look (i.e. I don't get out of the car because of a sudden event, or I walk away because of geomuggles) then I log a note.

 

A DNF can also indicate to the owner that he is a devious hider! A compliment of sorts.

Only multiple DNFs are an alarm.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

When I get out of the truck with my GPS, my only options are found and not found. It's too late at that point for a note.

 

I do not delete not found logs when I go back and find it. Finding it later does not change the fact that I didn't find it earlier.

 

When do I log a note? One cache took me several visits to the park it was in. The first visit, I couldn't find the cache so I posted a not found. The second and third trips I didn't even get out of the truck since there were people sitting 20 feet from the cache location so I posted a note. On the fourth trip, I finally found the cache so I appropriately logged the find.

[+sbell111]

Log a DNF, I would.

 

The blue guy summed up my practice perfectly.

[Art Carnage]

I agree. If you made an effort to look for it, it should be counted as a did-not-find.

[+bons]

Note: All other things being equal, I prefer a couple of DNFs when I'm out hunting solo. If a cache has no DNFs on it, it's a little too easy. But a nice sprinkle of DNFs in a long list of logs indicates to me that this is a well balanced cache: tricky, but solveable.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

One more thing, a not found log in itself does not send an alarm to the cache owner. What you write in that log is what tells the cache owner how to respond. You can write the same thing in a note and the cache owner will respond the same way. Using a not found log, you are making the cache history accurate.

[+robert]

Notes are for hiders to let people know something about the log, like maintenance visits, etc. DNFs are for seekers who did not FIND the cache, no matter the reason (notice I didn't say LOOK )

[+Team GPSaxophone]

Notes are for hiders to let people know something about the log, like maintenance visits, etc. DNFs are for seekers who did not FIND the cache, no matter the reason (notice I didn't say LOOK )

Most notes should be from the cache owner, but there are other reasons for posting a note. On an event cache, a note can be left to tell others you plan on attending. A note on a virtual could be used to publicly say you found it, but are waiting for confirmation from the owner before changing the log to a find.

[+bons]

Notes are for hiders to let people know something about the log, like maintenance visits, etc.

I use notes on return visits to any cache. These visits may be maintainence of someone else's cache, travel bug movement, or whatever. But if it's where it was last time I don't consider it a find. I also used a note to log my travel bug into EELBOY's 1st Event Cache! (which is probably going on as we speak).

Edited January 4, 2004 by bons

[+robert]

bons,

That's true. I frequently go back to caches for one reason or another, and that's obviously not a "find" again.

 

sax:

If you post a DNF on an event cache, you're outta here.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

sax:

If you post a DNF on an event cache, you're outta here. 

How did you know?

 

Here's my log:

August 2 by Team GPSaxophone (133 found)

You can [edit], [delete] or [permanently encrypt] this log entry.

Argh! After all that planning for this event, everything looked like it was going to be great. It's not every day you can post a not found for an event cache - especially one you helped set up! Here's what happened:

I took some vacation time at work to get off early and we loaded up the truck. Driving on I-25 the truck suddenly lost power going up the La Bajada grade. I pulled over, thinking the transmission went out but the smoke was coming from the rear end. Looks like the differential seal was faulty and lost all of its oil. Since I don't have AAA Plus, we had to have the truck towed to the rest stop just north of exit 267. I'll bring my other Suburban up here with a trailer tomorrow and tow it to my mechanic in Rio Rancho.

Sorry we weren't able to make the event, we hope you all had a good time anyway. We'll have the truck fixed up by the Great Albuquerque Cache Hunt next week. We'll come back to Santa Fe soon to place the cache we brought with us today.

We've found 85 more caches since then, but still haven't been back to Santa Fe

[+briansnat]

I agree with the others that its a DNF. A single DNF, especially from an inexperienced geocacher, won't alarm most cache owners.

Edited January 4, 2004 by briansnat

[+DustyJacket]

DNFs are helphul.

 

Here is one case my DNF(s) helped:

August 24, 2003 by DustyJacket (70 found)

12:20pm

I finally got this one! (I had made 4 trips earlier this year, when it was missing.)

I decided that a month and a half of inactivity due to the heat was too much, so out I went today.

 

Got there very early while heat was low (81 degrees), but there were many, many, many campers there, so I left to do some mapping for the USGS - Grain Valley has so many new roads and developments.

 

Returned at 11:30am, and they were convoying out of the area, so came back a little while later.

 

Very dry, no mud, no water. Most of the leaves and ground clutter is dead.

Found the first stage 150-feet +/- from where my GPS consistently pointed. It was out in the open and had either been blown off where it was attached or someone found it and tossed it down. I replaced it where I found it, but camouflaged it a little better.

 

Then I trundled off to stage two, and the real cache. Be sure to not focus on the GPS or you will fall, frequently, and far down.

 

Second stage was about 20+/- feet from where the GPS pointed, but it was the first place I looked. It really needs to be painted to match its surroundings, as it really stands out. (If the cache owner tells me to, I can come back next Sunday and spray paint it, and its attachements.)

 

Signed log (first to find in its new location), took nothing. Left DustyJacket button, girl's new metal picture bracelet, 1922-D silver dollar.

 

Trudged back to the car in 99 degree heat with my heart thumping out of my chest. I guess I won't have that heart attack for a long time, if that didn't kill me today. I did drain my 100 ounce camelback. I was so glad to have my El Diablo Hiking Staff!

 

This would be great for kids! No ticks, but lordy did I come out covered in sticky plants or nettles or something I've not run into before. I was the leaf-man. Took many swatches of duct tape to clean them off.

 

Thanks for a great cache.

 

July 26, 2003 by TrailBlazerz (0 found)

The cache has been replaced, slightly altered from its original condition. Have a blast attempting to become...King Of The Hill!!

 

June 16, 2003 by DustyJacket (70 found)

AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH !

Pant! Pant! Pant! Pant!

 

June 16, 2003 by TrailBlazerz (0 found)

ALL PARTS OF THIS CACHE HAVE BEEN RAIDED. No signs of the cache or containers anywhere. Those of you who have tried to find recently, you are all not crazy after all. There is a lot of camping in this area and the cache might have been stumbled upon and stolen. The cache will be replaced as original as soon as possible. Please check back at a later time for the cache reopening. Thank you all for your patronage, and we apologize for any frustration caused by the theft of this cache.

 

June 6, 2003 by DustyJacket (70 found)

4pm - 6pm

I give up.

I am not coming back to this cache again.

Another 2 hours of my life are gone.....

I bow to he who hid the cache, and especially those who have found it.

 

I searched the trees, the waist-high foliage, and on my hands and knees around every tree, stump, and whatnot. No joy.

 

DO NOT ATTEMPT WITHIN A FEW DAYS OF A RAINFALL !

I fell up the hills, down the hills, and slipped several times on the trail on the precipice. I am whipped.

 

May 31, 2003 by DustyJacket (70 found)

Third Attempt.

8:30am

Some kind soul had told me that the area I had searched my last two tries was the right area, and I just had to look harder.

Armed with that info, I was eager to get this one done!

Alas, there were campers there.

I decided to sneak around the back, and get to the cache, so I spent over an hour bushwhacking in.

 

No dice. There was a tent within 20 feet of the cache, on the hill! And the occupant was wandering around.

So, I had to bushwhack back.

 

I left and came back about noon. The show no signs of leaving, so I assume they are staying all weekend.

 

I'll try Sunday night...

 

May 26, 2003 by DustyJacket (70 found)

Once again, a DNF ! Darn it!

Spent 2 more hours.

Searched 100 feet around the point my GPS indicated.

And then, 260 feet to the south, and up and down the hill, and all dead or fallen trees, and.......

I give up on this cache.

Must be a clever hiding spot.

 

May 18, 2003 by Recre8 (47 found)

Dustyjacket has expressed my sentiments as well. Searched the area all over but no luck.

 

May 18, 2003 by DustyJacket (70 found)

Aaarrrggghhhh!

Mark this as a Did Not Find for me. I didn't even get stage one.

My GPS kept pointing me to the same area. I searched high and low within a 50-foot circle for a piece of PVC pipe. Either the vegetation was too dense, or I was.

 

After an hour or more, I decided to start over with just the poem and ignore the GPS. No luck.

 

I finally left just after 7pm. Had to go home and cook dinner. I spent over 2 hours there.

 

As I was walking out, I encountered a young man walking towards the cache area with a satchel briefcase in his hand. He asked if I had 'found your target'? We chatted briefly about geocaching. He is not a cacher but he knew about it. As I was logging my DNF in my car he came back empty handed and took another instrument type of case from his car and walked back into the woods. What was that all about? I thought cachers looked suspicious, but this was odd........

 

Then there was this. (The cache owner went up there after my DNF, the went home to make a replacement, but when he got back, the old box had been replaced.

January 3 by clearpath (100 found)

The muggle did sign the logbook and wrote an explanation. It appears as if the cache was gone when Dustyjacket looked for it, then was returned in time for kcmose to find it. Its not that hard to locate, but then again I've spent hours looking for a 1/1.

 

January 2 by DustyJacket (70 found)

Could you tell if it was muggled and returned before or after kcmose found it?

(I am still "stumped" by my DNF when I brought my sister and her hsband up there last week. Especially since I had found it twice before.)

 

January 2 by clearpath (100 found)

100 found!!!! Wooo Hooo!!! Thanks for a very memorable cache find. It appears as if a muggle found this one and took it home then brought it back after they realized what the found. The cache is in excellent shape. I did replace the ziploc bag that the logbook is in.

T-matchbox car

L-(3) arrowhead replicas

 

December 31, 2003 by kcmose (570 found)

11:50 5th of 10. It's there DustyJ. Snow cover may have hampered your attempt. Did do a little circling until I found the cache. Guinea' house is definitely broken! TNLNSL. Thanks.

 

December 21, 2003 by DustyJacket (70 found)

I brought BettyD and Peg-n-Mete out caching for 5 caches.

this was the last one.

Could NOT find it even though I had found this one twice before.

Either the camouflage is great, the snow hampered us, or it is somewhere else.

 

 

[+robert]

sax:

If you post a DNF on an event cache, you're outta here. 

How did you know?

I didn't! But congrats, anyway.

 

Too funny

[+Geo Ho]

I post a DNF on any cache I don't find. That alerts the cache owner of a potential issue with his cache and to remind myself of my failure .

 

I'll keep going back to find a cache until I find it or until it's determined that the cache has either been muggled or destroyed by nature. If I can't find it after the second go around, I'll e-mail the cache owner. AND I'll post mutliple DNF's for a cache until I find it. And, to be sure, if it's there I will eventually find it.

 

So, there is my opinion . . . such as it is.

 

Happy caching and stuff!