Wild Goose Chases

[Dinoprophet]

Here's a statistic I don't think I've ever seen discussed. How often have you gone after a cache that turned out to be missing? As in, its absence was later confirmed by the hider or a previous finder.

 

I thought of this because whenever I cache with my dad, it only takes about 3 minutes before he starts saying, "When's the last time it was found? I bet it's gone." In over 1-1/2 years, with 151 finds, I've only had two DNFs that turned out to be missing, plus one cache that went missing from a ten-cache Event. That's less than 2% -- and it's even less if you include every stage of all the multis I've done. So when I can't find it, I assume the problem is me.

[+SBPhishy]

77 finds, and 2 that were missing. They were later replaced within 2 weeks.

[+Q2XL]

2 out of 70+ finds...and I may have screwed one of them up myself by kicking down through the deep snow looking for a small cache container on a night only multi-cache .

[+quills]

50 finds and only one dnf that the container was actually gone.

[+Mr.Benchmark]

126 finds, 2 DNFs that were really gone. (And a whole slew that I DNF'd but really were there!) In both cases it was really obvious that the cache was gone. In one case there was a pile of sticks that looked just like what you'd use to cover an ammo can - but no ammo can. In the other case I found bits of other people's geo-cards, and other cache debris - always a bad sign. Both confirmed missing by the owner.

[Dinoprophet]

Oh, I suppose I should also include the time I did a maint check on one of my own caches and it was gone. No one had logged it missing, I just happened to check on it then.

[+NightPilot]

3, IIRC. One was replaced quickly, the others are still missing, AFAIK.

[+briansnat]

Way too many. Enough to make me think that I'm probably the worst geocacher on the planet....kind of the anti-Bassoonpilot.

Edited February 5, 2004 by briansnat

[+Johnnie Stalkers]

62 finds and 1 I found was broken (glass jar) with contents missing. Owner never replaced it so I never got to log that one. Actually was a good hide, hmmmm. Maybe I need to steal that spot.

[+seneca]

2 out of 106 finds (and I'm not going to tell you the number of DNF's)

[+The Leprechauns]

Eight caches confirmed missing, out of about 580 caches hunted. The most memorable included our third cache hunt ever (it was a relief to learn it wasn't us doing something wrong), and a stage missing from a letterbox-clue style multicache (workers had removed the park bench you were supposed to sit on in order to be looking towards the next clue location). That one took me four visits and a lot of correspondence with the hider to straighten that frownie into a smiley, but it was worth it!

[+Renegade Knight]

I've lost count. One was confirmed missing after a 50 mile drive out of my way (on top of the other 300 for the day) up steep switchbacks. It was hot, we drank everything that wasn't nailed down and finally after dehydration set in we called it quits.

 

It was a vacation cache. Logscaler came to the rescue and drove further than I did and confirmed it was MIA and replaced it with another container. I never made it back.

[+The Cheeseheads]

I guess I'm doing relatively well... 346 finds and only one confirmed missing.

[+astheravenflies]

One out of 63 real caches (after subtracting a handful of virtuals). I logged it as a DNF. This taught me the value of logging a DNF. The cache owner was able to confirm that the cache was MIA and archive it.

[martmann]

100 finds, 18 DNFs 3 of those were actually gone when I looked for them.

[+Life Journey]

I haven't even found that many. But one of my DNFs I am almost convinced is missing in action - since I found it once, but a couple of months later (recently) I can't find it - twice.

 

On the same note - am I the only one who leaves home with old printouts of caches - without bothering to check that they haven't been archived? I searched all over at a rest stop for a cache that had been archived and relocated 4 months prior!! (Did I mention the printout was old???)

 

Edited because I can't seem to type!

Edited February 5, 2004 by Life Journey

[+bob393]

Only 2 out of 300. Not bad.

[+WildGooseChase]

How nice of you to ask! And I thought no one cared. I just wonder why all those other people are answering for me.

 

Actually there have only been 3 or 4 of our 250+ finds that were missing. Those account for all our DNF's.

[+StarshipTrooper]

I can't thinkof any that were confirmed missing. I have found one that had been plundered and scattered about, and another that had been used as a rifle target.

 

-ST

Edited February 6, 2004 by StarshipTrooper

[+rover-r-us]

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