Hypothetical Question About Cache Placement

[+psyci]

Close to my hometown there is a buffalo farm. This is rather significant, because there are very, very few buffalo in New England - many people in this part of the country probably have never even seen a buffalo.

 

The ride there is very scenic, and it's a beautiful area. Once there, you can walk around the area, and watch the buffalo grazing in the fields.

 

Sounds like a perfect place for a cache, huh?

 

The problem is that this farm is a commercial entity. They have a small store on the premises (they sell gifts, and buffalo products, including meat), and they offer hayrides and tours in the summer. Geocaching guidelines prohibit caches that relate to businesses or promote them in any way, although "Some exceptions can be made. In these rare situations, permission can be given by the Geocaching.com web site."

 

I have no official relation to this farm, I just find it a very interesting place, and think many geocachers would enjoy the chance to see real, live buffalo in this part of the world.

 

So, my question: what are some opinions on the appropriateness of placing a cache here?

[umc]

Clearly you would need permission from the farm owner but other than that, where would you want to place this cache?

 

I could understand how it would be commercial if it were in the store itself or somewhere near the store or anywhere on the property and having a visit to the store as part of the cache would be a problem. Outside of that you may be ok. So, where would it be?

 

Other than that is there anywhere that would work that isn't on the property but near it?

[umc]

To be precise here is that excerpt of the guidelines:

 

Commercial Caches / Caches that Solicit

 

Commercial caches attempt to use the Geocaching.com web site cache reporting tool directly or indirectly (intentionally or non-intentionally) to solicit customers through a Geocaching.com listing.  These are NOT permitted. Examples include for-profit locations that require an entrance fee, or locations that sell products or services.

 

Solicitations are also off-limits. For example, caches perceived to be posted for religious, political, or social agendas may not be listed. Geocaching is supposed to be a light, fun activity, not a platform for an agenda.

 

Some exceptions can be made. In these rare situations, permission can be given by the Geocaching.com web site. However, permission should be asked first before posting. If you are in doubt, ask first.

 

The reason I asked about where on the property is because of the issue around entrance fee's and such.

[+BadAndy]

If you do place a cache there...I would suggest a container cammo'd to look like a.....buffalo pie.

[+Renegade Knight]

Get permission and put the cache in a non fee area and you are good to go. If they can hide a cache in a Walmart parking lot you can hide a cache near buffalo.

 

I like the chip idea.

[+psyci]

The reason I asked about where on the property is because of the issue around entrance fee's and such.

No entrance fees to look at the buffalo from outside the fence, and there's plenty of nice viewing area. Depending on how lucky you are, the buffalo might be right near the fence, or two hundred yards away.

 

For a fee, they'll take you into the farm area for a hayride, and will even let you hand feed the buffalo. This is to be expected, since they don't want people wandering up to the animals (could be dangerous for the buffalo and human).

 

As for the cache itself... it might be an appropriate place for a virtual cache, because it is a business, and I wouldn't want the business to be putting coupons and such in a cache to promote themselves.

[CoyoteRed]

Personally, I don't see a problem with the cache. Talk to the owners. Make sure they understand you're wanting to get people out to see the buffalo and that the cache cannot be construed to be "commercial." They might have better solutions than any you're thinking of at the moment.

 

After that, talk to your local approver. You'll be able to get it approved, you just have to work with both the owners and your approver.

 

As an aside, while I understand the policy of no commercial caches, I don't agree with it. The main sticking point with me is situations just like this--a place outdoors, seeing sites, and doing cool things. The very nature of who owns a park can be a deal breaker. A park owned by an individual or private entity is offlimits, while a park owned by a governmental agency is fine. This is something I don't agree with in the least.

[+briansnat]

A micro near the viewing area would be great. An ammo box next to the store's cash register gets a no.

[CoyoteRed]

An ammo box next to the store's cash register gets a no.

Brian reminds me of another thing. Caches inside businesses make a lot of people uncomfortable. "Do I be rude and just ask for the cache and not buy anything? What if there's nothing I want? What if the owner is a cacher and wants to chat, but I don't feel like it?" etc. etc.

 

Caches inside businesses are a bad idea, IMHO.

[+woodsters]

As others have stated to include an approver, there's no problem. But seeing it is private property you definitely need to ask the owners first. I can imagine that they would probably not have a problem with it as it could generate business to them. You might ask them on suggestions of where to put one as well. Keep them happy and they will probably keep an eye out on the cache.

[+bigredmed]

My Uncle raises buffalo near Ogallala. They are cool creatures. Watching them is really not as much fun as watching them run (1000 lb animals cruising at 20 mph, almost floating across the sandhills) or feeding them range pellets. Put the cache in the site. Do a "cache cafe".

 

I set one up in a park in Omaha (Cunningham cache cafe) that works like this.

A micro is at the coords. This is a big enough container to hold coords for the "menu" of sub caches.

 

Each sub cache could be a micro or a trad or a virtual.

 

This way you could show the place off, tip people to changes to see the buffs up close, and maybe get to feed some range pellets to them and see that monkey tail of a tongue they have (if you have never seen a buffalo eat something out of your hand, you really owe yourself the opportunity, trust me.)

 

If you want to put a cache in the store, go for it, as part of the cafe, a cacher could skip this one and still claim credit for the find.