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Advice To Newbies


Natureboy44

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Hey all! Something that I didn't think about when I first started caching was to carefully observe how and exactly where a cache is hidden or placed before retrieving it. Sometimes this is very important to ensure that the cache in maintained at its original level of difficulty. The next cacher (and the cache owner), will appreciate your effors! Welcome all!

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Amen....I have one cache where the page clearly states....Please put the ammo can back in the upright position you found it in as this area does get rain drenched.

 

Next time I went to check it it was on its side again.... :D

 

There are reasons for cache owners making statements, not to be difficult, but to possibly make it pleasurable to all that follow.

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Yes, PLEASE, all you newbies out there (and EXPERIENCED cachers as well-this applies to you, too)...PLEASE put it back like ya found it...if one thing really whizzes me off, it's going to check on your own cache and finding it hidden differently, or even in another spot...

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Just a side note. Ammo cans are watertight. Ive got one as a cache thats totally underwater and the inside remains bone dry.

Just a note: No, they're not. Yours may be dry but I've seen enough soaked logbooks to know that ammo cans are not always watertight. I'm willing to bet that water -> ice -> water will do a nasty job to a cache in the middle of a runoff.

 

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As for placing a cache back where I found it, when it's in the open next to the trail I'll move it somewhere a little less obvious and indicate that on my online log. If it's well hidden I'll do my best to duplicate the hide but if it's not I'm not going to leave it for the next muggle who jogs by.

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As for placing a cache back where I found it, when it's in the open next to the trail I'll move it somewhere a little less obvious and indicate that on my online log. If it's well hidden I'll do my best to duplicate the hide but if it's not I'm not going to leave it for the next muggle who jogs by.

Exception noted and agreed to. Thanks for the clarification.

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I'll pipe in ona pet peeve.

 

Please don't feel obligated to bury the cache so thoroughly that it won;t be found until the next forest fire. I've come across caches that had been so covered in leaves and sticks that only the obviousness of the hiding made it possible to find.

 

This is especially annoying when creeping through a sticker bush factory in the middle of nowhere under heavy canopy on a cloudy day.

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Recently I found a micro that seemed to be obviously out of place. I figured it was either somehow discovered by a muggle and just dropped back on the ground in the general area, or an animal dislodged it from it's hiding place while digging around for some food. I took it upon myself to put it where I thought it should be, and camouflaged it as I would have expected to find it.

 

Did I overstep my bounds as a finder? I'd like to think I did the right thing, since immediately after picking it up a family came by to have a look at the spot where it was hidden and I had to move out in order to sign the log. If I hadn't come by when I did, I'm sure it would have been picked up by someone and quite possibly plundered to some degree.

 

I can only hope that I replaced it as it should have been when I found it. Should I contact the owner & recommend that they check up on it?

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Some geocachers leave the caches in the open. Not sure why. Maybe they think the rest of us are stupid and can't find it without their help. I usually hide my caches very well, to keep them from accidently being discovered, so it really ticks me off when I get a log that says "found the cache sitting in the open."

 

The best thing is to hide the cache the way you found it, unless its obvious that it wasn't the way the owner intended it to be, in which case use the difficulty level as a guide when re hiding it. If its a 2 or3 star difficulty, but the cache is out in the open, you can bet the cache owner didn't want it that way. On the other hand, if its a 1 star difficulty, don't hide it too well. I've seen this happen too. In a few instances I left little bit of the cache peaking out of its hiding place, so people can find it easily without ripping up the area. Then I get logs that say "took us an hour to find it, because it was hidden very well". That's also very annoying.

 

Generally speaking, don't leave it exposed and don't hide it better than you found it. Hide it exactly as you found it. I don't blame just newbies for leaving caches out. I've noticed a lot of veteran geocachers doing this as well.

Edited by briansnat
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I agree, and I wish more people would pay attention. I have a micro that I hid on a park bench, and I spent a week putting it in various places on the bench, trying to figure out which spot hid it the best. Some spots you can see it when sitting on the bench looking down through the wooden slats, other spots you can see it walking along the path up to the bench. I found the best spot inside the end of the left side. After a few finds it was on the middle post of the bench! How do you not remember where you got it from??? Please don't do me any favors :D

 

Anyway--welcome newbies and enjoy the game!

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This seems to be a constant problem....and it is not just newbies. Especially caches hidden in the woods.

 

If I can't find a cache and need to call for help I never call the person who hid it because unless they checked on it recently chances are they have no idea how or where it is hidden. They can tell me how or where they hid it but if it was where they hid it I probably would have found it.

 

Own experience: When we hid our first cache it was a tin inside a 2-gallon freezer bag that had camo tape on it. We hid it in a wooded area (no trail) under a bush. We did not bury it under leaves or pine needles as the camo tape seemed quite sufficient. We also made the mistake of putting a camera in it.

 

As we watched the web logs the first few finds went without a hitch, then we were puzzled why so many people were having such a tough time finding it. It took longer and longer each time it seemed but they all found it. When we read the log indicating the camera was full we went to retrieve the camera to develop the film. Arrived at the hide spot and no bag. Searched within a 20 foot radius.....NO bag. Moved out to a 30 foot radius....NO bag. Contacted the last finder (who said he found it accidently as he was giving up on the search) who agreed to meet us at the site a few days later and show us where he found it. Lo and behold the bag was buried under pine needles 60 feet from the original hide spot. We were miffed and didn't quite understand until we developed the film. More than one of the finders had taken the entire container out of the woods to take a picture (guess it was too dark under the trees). Supposing that when they went to replace it they couldn't remember exactly where they had found it so they rehid it where they "thought" they had found it. Kinda like the game you play in grade school....whisper something in someone's ear and by time it get's around the room it doen't sound anything like the way it started. We won't ever put a camera in a cache again that is for sure.

 

Many times we have spoken to cache owners at events about their hides and they describe the way they hid a cache that did not match the way we found it.

 

EVERYONE needs to slow down and be more careful. Some finders will find a cache and decide on their own that the find was too easy so they will change the hide technique or the spot to make it more difficult for the next person. Hide your own then you can make it as tough as you want within the hiding guidelines.

 

OOOOPs guess I got a little carried away. Off my soap box now.

 

Marine Biologist (Rodney & Sandy)

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I had one of my caches "re-hidden" in a "better" place recently. The finder said so in the log. I went to check on it, and I decided I liked it, so I kept it. It was only 4-5 feet away from the original site, so coordinates were not a problem. However, I had to change the secret hint and a little of the description to have the new spot make sense. I'm not sure whether I'm miffed or thankful. Thankful, I guess. What good does it do to be miffed?

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