Boy Scout Troop Logging Finds

January 29, 2004

I've been asked to give a presentation and lesson on geocaching which will culminate in a campout where I will have some multi caches for the scouts to find...only for the day. There are three caches in the park where we will be camping and three more within a quick boat ride on the lake.

I want to encourage the scouts to cache but am unsure if I should have them log as one group or individually?

I searched and could not find a prior post although I thought I had seen one a long time ago...

Thanks for any help.

Edited January 29, 2004 by skeeter-n-lucy

3.5k · January 29, 2004

Why not do both...sorta....they could choose a group name, like "Troop 234" (or whatever), but set up individual accounts so that they're , "Troop 234-Jimmy" and "Troop 234-Marion" (that's the kid that always gets beat up).

This way they can claim a find for the troop and yet still have it counted as their individual finds.

Bret

20.7k · January 29, 2004

In my opinion, this is no different then if a family starts caching. If they are ever going to cache individually, they should set up individual accounts, in my opinion.

January 29, 2004

Thats what I wanted...your opinions. I just wondered if someone would mind 2-24 logs on their cache like that...I guess I could contact the cache owners and explain to them what was going on...

20.7k · January 29, 2004

I don't think anyone would mind. I wouldn't bother to contact cache owners. Your logs can explain it fully.

What I would do is break down the hunts to patrol-sized groups. It will be much easier for you to really explain the activity with only 6-8 guys. Also, each member will be more involved with the hunt and hopefully get more out of it. This smaller group will also help alleviate fears of trampling of the area.

January 29, 2004

Skeeter,

that's a great idea. I am also with the scouts (though it is at the cub level). I have been thinking of a way to introduce caching to them as well. Would you mind letting me know how it went and any ideas you could share?

Thanks and good luck,

January 29, 2004

I just did a geocaching presentation to our BSA district Roundtable. I put together a short handout for the talk. If you are interested, I can email it to you.

January 29, 2004

that's a great idea. I am also with the scouts (though it is at the cub level). I have been thinking of a way to introduce caching to them as well. Would you mind letting me know how it went and any ideas you could share?

A few years ago I took a group of Webelos geocaching, and then my co-leader and I set out another cache. We included baggies with some scout stuff which had the first names of individual scouts on them so that they would be encouraged to do some geocaching on their own. In the cache description we asked that those items be reserved for the scouts. It was well-received by scouts and non-scouts alike. The scout bags are no longer there, but many of the logs relate the finder's scouting experiences, and many people trade scouting memorabelia. We also set out a traveler (pre travel bug days) called Cub Scout Garfield. Just this month he was spotted in PA. The boys can keep up with him on the cache page.

4k · January 29, 2004

I'd like to applaud you all on your efforts with the BSA. Youngsters need the positive influences like you give, and by introducing them to geocaching, you are also teaching them more skills than just hunting a tupperware box in the woods. You are teaching them teamwork, technology, nature, and a host of other positive aspects that will enrich their lives.

I personally would love it if a whole troop of scouts logged my cache individually! I'd love to hear each one's story of how he found it and what he liked about it! Keep up the good work!

9.4k · January 29, 2004

I wouldn't mind having 24 individual logs on one of my caches, but I would only set up individual accounts if they plan to go geocaching in the future. If you're only going to do this as a group, I'd stay with "Troop-234" or something. You can list individual members in the group profile. The ones that have their own GPS and plan to go caching again apart from the troop can make individual accounts.

2.2k · January 29, 2004

I would like it if any member of a troop would log my caches individually.

BTW: Some caches placed by boy scouts:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...1a-6e0f675168c0

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...5b-9bcb0a710369

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...57-531ad9e0df0a

January 29, 2004

Thanks for the positive comments. I'm actually a teacher and teach several of the scouts. Their Scoutmaster has made the request after going on a school sponsored trip to New Orleans and I talked about Geocaching the whole way. I drove the bus and used my Meridian for guidance...

mbrownjer, I'd love any info you can give me. PM me or email me, your choice...

Here is my plan.

I will attemd several scout meetings in advance and explain GPS, geocaching, and then give instruction on how to use the GPSr.

We will the go on a campout at an area where there are actually 4 caches in the park and 4 on the lake. We will do some of those caches in the afternoon after my geo-game below.

I am going to have a geocaching puzzle where the coordinates to the final cache will be pieces of the puzzle. We will break the scouts up into 4 groups of 4-6 and they will take turns using the GPSr to lead to the clue caches. Once all of the clues are obtained, they will go as a group to the final cache where a prize will be waiting for them.

My school district has a dozen etrexes which they have graciously allowed me to use.

Any other ideas??

Edited January 29, 2004 by skeeter-n-lucy

2.2k · January 29, 2004

...
Any other ideas??

After the scouts got some experience on finding caches you should let them hide their own cache. They surely will be very interested in reading who found the cache and what the finders traded. They could make it a multi and include some scouting related tasks.

This cache is located on a scout campground: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...90-230167256bf0

January 29, 2004

skeeter-n-lucy, I sent you an email

It would be a good idea for the scouts to do the geocaching in patrols. Then each patrol can hide one, and the other patols can look for it.

January 29, 2004

I taught a geocache summer school class and the kids established their own accounts. They logged finds as "found with Team Warriors". Some are still active. We had a blast!

January 29, 2004

It was way back in October 2001, but I headed up a geocaching table at a BSA Gold Rush event. With the assistance of two other geocachers we'd hidden three ammo boxes in the woods filled with candy (it was just before Halloween), and took small groups of boys out to look for them.

The Scouts took turns handling the GPS while others used a compass. Once the cache was found each got to pick a candy bar. At the end of the day several boys returned to contribute goodies to a cache to be left in the park. It still there:

BSA Gold Rush Cache

~erik~

3.1k · January 29, 2004

Thats what I wanted...your opinions. I just wondered if someone would mind 2-24 logs on their cache like that...I guess I could contact the cache owners and explain to them what was going on...

I would ask the scouts what they want to do. If some want to log it by themselves why not? I wouldn't object to a bunch of logs all at once on a cache of mine.

January 29, 2004

I would advise going the patrol-size group route. Not every scout is going to want to write something up for a cache. With a group they are more likely to either cooperate on the log contents or choose a member to log the cache on their behalf. Kids who "don't write" won't be too pressured, and those who like the idea will self-select. My 13 year old doesn't always want to log caches we've found together, and i don't pressure him to. Patrols also make hunting easier. With a troop hunting, the lead scouts will find and the followers will come up to a 'finding party' - this happens all the time with large group caching. With patrols, you can stagger the patrols such that this doesn't happen. Also, as a cache owner i would prefer getting 8 good logs to getting 24 ones, many which are just "thanks". Also, if there are multiple caches, you could have a different member of the patrol log each cache for the patrol group. Eg, 8 caches, 4 member patrols, each member has to log 2 of the caches.

Edited January 29, 2004 by WalruZ

January 29, 2004

I just did a google search to see if there is a geocaching merit badge. It doesn't look like there is, but it seems like it could be a good thing...

January 29, 2004

if its only for a weekend, why do the scouts need an account?

I've got a friend who's into scouts and thinking of trying geocaching. Here's what I suggested to him to try it:

2 methods:

Method A= check the park you're going to for existing caches. Print out the cache sheets for them and bring a GPS or two. Take out teams of scouts to find them. Give the kids a hand-out explaining geocaching, which would include a note about gc.com and logging your finds and looking for new caches.

Method B= place your own temporary caches in the park (get permission from the park, should be OK). Get the coordinates and make up cache sheets. The rest is the same as method A.

The point is, you don't need GC.com to geocache. It just makes it better. So you don't need to complicate things with that, when your getting people to try out the core activity, which is using a GPS to find stuff.

Janx

January 29, 2004

I just did a google search to see if there is a geocaching merit badge. It doesn't look like there is, but it seems like it could be a good thing...

at the cub scout level, I couldn't even find anything to do with compasses... if you find something or a way to work geocaching into a badge's requirements, please let me know...

2.3k · January 29, 2004

Thanks for the positive comments. I'm actually a teacher and teach several of the scouts. Their Scoutmaster has made the request after going on a school sponsored trip to New Orleans and I talked about Geocaching the whole way. I drove the bus and used my Meridian for guidance...

mbrownjer, I'd love any info you can give me. PM me or email me, your choice...

Here is my plan.

I will attemd several scout meetings in advance and explain GPS, geocaching, and then give instruction on how to use the GPSr.

We will the go on a campout at an area where there are actually 4 caches in the park and 4 on the lake. We will do some of those caches in the afternoon after my geo-game below.

I am going to have a geocaching puzzle where the coordinates to the final cache will be pieces of the puzzle. We will break the scouts up into 4 groups of 4-6 and they will take turns using the GPSr to lead to the clue caches. Once all of the clues are obtained, they will go as a group to the final cache where a prize will be waiting for them.

My school district has a dozen etrexes which they have graciously allowed me to use.

Any other ideas??

Just one,

Start your first talk outside by using the GPS to find a point you previously picked or a temp micro. Teach by doing. Let them see how cool it is to find a point on the planet. Show them that just cus its 100 yards away its the same as using it to find a point in France of South America.

Scouts love hands on so the more of that you start with the more fun they will have in the long run.

CO Admin

Scoutmaster retired Troop 101 aurora CO.

January 29, 2004

I just did a google search to see if there is a geocaching merit badge. It doesn't look like there is, but it seems like it could be a good thing...

at the cub scout level, I couldn't even find anything to do with compasses... if you find something or a way to work geocaching into a badge's requirements, please let me know...

I should actually be incorporated into orienteering.

January 29, 2004

Boy Scout Troop 244 from Kenner, LA has 47 finds. I haven't looked through all their logs, but I know they have 21 finds from a weekend biketrip around New Orleans. It sounded like a great idea.

As far as matching Geocaching to Scout requirements goes, you can use Geocaching to meet soe requirements for every level of Scouting from Tiger through Venturing except for Webelo. We did a presentation on this topic as our Woodbadge project in December. I don't remember specifics for each Cub level (one of my patrol members did the Cub part of the presentation), but if you look through the appropriate book with GeoScouting in mind, you'll find what you're looking for.

If you need a boost, send me an email and I'll forward your address to the CM who worked on that part of the project.

(edit - check out this log posted recently by Troop 244.)

Edited January 29, 2004 by OneOfEm

2.3k · January 29, 2004

Boy Scout Troop 244 from Kenner, LA has 47 finds. I haven't looked through all their logs, but I know they have 21 finds from a weekend biketrip around New Orleans. It sounded like a great idea.

As far as matching Geocaching to Scout requirements goes, you can use Geocaching to meet soe requirements for every level of Scouting from Tiger through Venturing except for Webelo. We did a presentation on this topic as our Woodbadge project in December. I don't remember specifics for each Cub level (one of my patrol members did the Cub part of the presentation), but if you look through the appropriate book with GeoScouting in mind, you'll find what you're looking for.

If you need a boost, send me an email and I'll forward your address to the CM who worked on that part of the project.

(edit - check out this log posted recently by Troop 244.)

Woodbadge? What patrol????

January 29, 2004

i would do a group name..

1.3k · January 30, 2004

I would warn the cache owners that the entire swag contents are about to be swapped out, log as a troop, and let any individuals who choose to set up their own accounts log the find that way.

January 30, 2004

a good ol' owl.

You?

2.3k · January 30, 2004

a good ol' owl.

You?

The only thing an approver could be. O good ol' Buffalo. Best patrol there is

Edited January 30, 2004 by CO Admin

January 30, 2004

I don't know how much help this will be to you Skeeter or DiverMan, but I just posted in another thread about an event the weekend of March 27 & 28 involving Boy Scouts, orienteering, and Geocaching. It is held at the Sid Richardson Ranch, a few thousand acre ranch owned by the Boy Scouts, located just outside the town of Bridgeport, TX. The event is a Boy Scout hosted orienteering meet with the addition of special competition courses designed for GPS users, up to 42 caches including a bonus cache with first finder's prize, a geocaching clinic or two, and a night competition. I went to a planning meeting this evening and someone mentioned a GPS merit badge program that has been done by one of the fellows in the local Council (Longhorn) and they were hoping he could lead this, but he is also the assistant course setter for the orienteeing competition courses and may be too busy. I can ask to have him contact me (he wasn't at the meeting tonight) and see if he'd mind me sharing his contact info with other Scout leaders privately.

See last year's archived listing here. Hopefully the 2004 listing will be up in the next week or so... the registration packet is hoped to be complete within a week. You can choose competitive events or you can choose to participate on a simply fun and caching level. Read more about what's anticipated for this year here. This event was attended and enjoyed by a wide range of folks, including geocaching families with kids, scouts who had been introduced to caching, and caught the eye of the famous BruceS, who joined with my partner and I to conquer the GPS class of the Night-O event, not to mention claiming the GPS competition course as his own! Most of the accommodations are tent camping, but there are some limited spots in other types on the ranch or hotels if one is willing to commute!

2.2k · January 30, 2004

This was one of my favorite LC: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...91-6eb25b6a6ce7

Unfortunately it was archived but maybe it can return if the LC moratorium ends?

January 30, 2004

Check out what we did at a Camporee this past fall by going to http://kaiserklan.com/roundtable.

Enjoy.

2.2k · January 30, 2004

Check out what we did at a Camporee this past fall by going to http://kaiserklan.com/roundtable.
Enjoy.

Thats great!

BTW: Kaiser Klan sounds somehow european?

@Admins/Moderators: How about installing a GeoScouting section unter the "Geocaching Related Topic" section of the forums?

January 31, 2004

I just have one account.

If we all go caching I just include it in the log. But than again the rest of the family would never go without me.

February 1, 2004

I am in scouts and have been logged as a group when searching with troop doesn't bug me as long as everyone gets mentioned in the log. (and I obviously have an account I could log it on) :mad:

February 2, 2004

Don't forget Cache in/ Trash out.

February 2, 2004

CITO will be a part of my presentation as well!!

February 26, 2004

I just did a google search to see if there is a geocaching merit badge. It doesn't look like there is, but it seems like it could be a good thing...

at the cub scout level, I couldn't even find anything to do with compasses... if you find something or a way to work geocaching into a badge's requirements, please let me know...

It should actually be incorporated into orienteering.

In Scouts Canada there is no orienteering badge at the Cubs level but we do have an "Individual Speciality" badge that you can define your own requirements for and, as long as they are suitable and approved by the sixers council and the leaders, can be used to award that badge. I am working on defining requirements for a geocaching "Individual Speciality" badge and would appreciate any input if others have done likewise. I will be happy to share what we finally decide on with anyone who is interested - please let me know.

February 27, 2004

a good ol' owl.

You?

Fellow owl, you've got a buddy in Virginia. (but Buffalos are noble animals, too)

February 27, 2004

a good ol' owl.

I'm a good ol' owl too. SR571

February 27, 2004

a good ol' owl.

I'm a good ol' owl too. SR571

At least on line I don't have to hear you guys burst into song!

February 27, 2004

a good ol' owl.

I'm a good ol' owl too. SR571

At least on line I don't have to hear you guys burst into song!

Ah....but you can IMAGINE it, can't you??

Everybody, now...!!!!

February 27, 2004

a good ol' owl.

I'm a good ol' owl too. SR571

SR-574 here. We finished the course in December. I might finish my ticket by next December.

Boy Scout Troop Logging Finds

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