+Spider Woman Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 I really want to get a FTF under my belt! How do you get to be the first at the cache? I get weekly notifications and look at the most recent cache listings on the home page, but I never see them before someone else has gotten to it. I live in an area of lots of active geocachers (Silicon Valley), so that might explain it. I'd love to hear any tips others might have. Quote Link to comment
+CurmudgeonlyGal Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 The key is to NEVER leave your computer and check the listings on the half hour... only if you can't check them every 10 to 15 minutes. Also, you have to be able to leave and go on the hunt at the drop of a hat. Especially if the competition is stiff in your area. We've been FTF on only six, two were very local, two were 30 minutes away, two were an hour away. On one, I was told by a friend that he'd submitted one for approval the day before it was approved (no other info), but catching the others early were just dumb luck. A friend and I tried to be FTF on another but we went late at night and didn't have the right map to get into the area (a necessity), so someone else managed to get first crack at it the following day. Same friend and I went out a couple nights ago - he was planning on FTF for those, but I knew we wouldn't get it due to suspicious circumstances Good luck with the elusive FTF! -=- michelle Quote Link to comment
+WalruZ Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 Ha. I'm across the bay. Good luck. The way to be FTF in our area is to check your nearest listings every hour for new caches, particularly 10pm and 5am. Have everything packed and ready to go in advance, as if you were ready to deliver a baby. Print out the cache page and leave at once. Drive there in the dark. Ignore the "park does not open until 8am" signs. Bring a flashlight. Aerobic fortitude is helpful. A mountain bike helps level the playing field if you can manage that. A new cache came online in Coyote Hills this morning sometime after midnight. I was out there at 9am to find someone had already gotten underway at 7:15. We ended together, but he deserved (and got) the FTF. It is madness.... Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 Do a forum search for skydivers notification service. Sign up and get notice automaticly. Quote Link to comment
Swagger Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Renegade Knight:Do a forum search for skydivers notification service. Sign up and get notice automaticly. Clicky Quote Link to comment
+instep_guy Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 Getting a FTF means being willing to be the first to find out that the cache owner has made a typo in their posted coords.! Quote Link to comment
+Prime Suspect Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by instep_guy:Getting a FTF means being willing to be the first to find out that the cache owner has made a typo in their posted coords.! Way back in the early days, if you knew how, you could scan ahead and locate caches that hadn't been approved yet. I wrote a program that did this automatically, and notified me if one was nearby. Alas, those days are gone. Try bribing your area's approver "Don't mess with a geocacher. We know all the best places to hide a body." Quote Link to comment
+Spider Woman Posted November 4, 2003 Author Share Posted November 4, 2003 Thanks for the advice! I got my first FTF this weekend! I did a search using a 30 mile radius of my zip code, and looked through all of the listings until I found one without a "Last Found" date. Then I hurried out to it. It involved a 20 mile drive, a 2 hour hike and scaring off a coyote, but I got it! ;-) Quote Link to comment
+flask Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 good for you! we once jumped in the truck and drove for a couple of hours to arrive at a new cache at 6:45 in the morning and be the third ones there. and we KNOW how far teh FTF guy had to drive, because he lives farther than us. scary. quod est, est. Quote Link to comment
+haggaeus Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Prime Suspect:Way back in the early days, if you knew how, you could scan ahead and locate caches that hadn't been approved yet. I wrote a program that did this automatically, and notified me if one was nearby. Alas, those days are gone. You can still get coordinates for unpublished caches if you know how, but nothing else. I would bet it can be pretty frustrating to arrive to the coordinates of a puzzle cache at 6AM! Czech caching in US. Quote Link to comment
+RIclimber Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 quote:You can still get coordinates for unpublished caches if you know how, but nothing else. I would bet it can be pretty frustrating to arrive to the coordinates of a puzzle cache at 6AM! HOW????? Quote Link to comment
+haggaeus Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Downy288: _HOW?????_Nearby Placenames URL is your friend. Sometimes you can even see the name of a cache waiting for approval (and its ID), when somebody places a TB in a new cache and it appears at the state home page. Czech caching in US. Quote Link to comment
+9Key Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 This link works for the Cache Alert. ------- ~ Texas Geocaching ~ Geocaching Icons - The Selector ~ Quote Link to comment
+robert Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 Check this page often. It's the California cache page showing events and the latest caches hidden. It's accessible from the geocaching.com home page and selecting California on the right. When caches are approved, it'll show up there first. ~robert www.CacheGear.com Proud member of the Maryland Geocaching Society Quote Link to comment
+RuffRidr Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 quote:Originally posted by haggaeus: quote:Originally posted by Downy288: _HOW?????_Nearby Placenames URL is your friend. Sometimes you can even see the name of a cache waiting for approval (and its ID), when somebody places a TB in a new cache and it appears at the state home page. Czech caching in US. Ahah, very sneaky! You'd almost have to have some automated process to look up where the coordinates were to see if they were very close to you, tho. --RuffRidr Quote Link to comment
+chikn' huntn' Posted November 21, 2003 Share Posted November 21, 2003 I went out to get my first finder last night. It was posted at 3:45 pm I went out at 4:50 (didnt have wheels) It was one of those urban things where you go from place to place and take info. Finished my running around at about 6:00 (dark already (I had to put my son over a cemetary fence to get a couple clues lol)( dont you love these enclosed parentesis))) Finally i get to the park (closed as well) we get to the cache just to find out that someone found it at 4:00 pm. how did they find this cache in 15 mins when it involved over 12 miles of driving? hmm can you say inside information? Quote Link to comment
team_tar Posted November 21, 2003 Share Posted November 21, 2003 (dark already (I had to put my son over a cemetary fence to get a couple clues lol)( dont you love these enclosed parentesis))) Yes lovely, but you closed one too much... Quote Link to comment
+Team GPSaxophone Posted November 21, 2003 Share Posted November 21, 2003 Camp outside the house of the most active cache-hider in your area. Follow him whenever he leaves the house. Eventually, he'll place an ammo can somewhere and you can 'find it' momemts after he leaves! Quote Link to comment
+wray_clan Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 I think during your work day, you have to have the geocaching website on another window or something, check every ten minutes, and when there is a new one, you run out of the office saying "How did I forget that?" 134 finds, none of them FTF. That must be because I'm in school. Someday.... Quote Link to comment
+mlnapoli Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 I was lucky. On our 5th cache we ever found we were FTF. I did a search and saw it was brand new and we immediately went out to get it and got the FTF. Quote Link to comment
+shunra Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 (edited) (dark already (I had to put my son over a cemetary fence to get a couple clues lol)( dont you love these enclosed parentesis))) Yes lovely, but you closed one too much... One too many :-) Edited November 26, 2003 by Shunra Quote Link to comment
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