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I had somebody log a DNF today on one of my caches. This is their log:
well after finally finishing the coordinate puzzle, got the coordinates but
really hope its not another cache that is 30 feet off its mark. with hunting
season and 5 cars parked in this lot, I wouldnt guess but this went missing
AGAIN. didnt waste too much time searching, just checked the 15 ft radius if
anyone that has found it, how far off the mark is this container? feel free to
email us post, sign, or rock, tree of just another 30 feet off its mark.In my discription I have written that the coords might not be exact, but not willing to look out past 15′ on a rain soaked and cloudy day? Come on! I find caches out to 30’+ from GZ all the time. I don’t think they even looked for it just wrote the log. Would you ask for the actual location to be put in a log or leave the log in if somebody actually posted it.
This really hit a nerve for me because I just put a new container out which nobody even looked for and he is assuming it is missing after looking 15′ from GZ. Who’s to say he missed it, his GPSR is off with the clouds and rain or he put the wrong coordinates in. There are too many things on why he did not find it other than it’s missing or the coodinates are off.
By the way I did run out there and it is right where I put it!
I had 45’+ in the poll but I forgot to hit “add option” Sorry!
I read every log on our caches, but I no longer get worked up about a “bad” log. I just assume that someone is having a bad day and let it go unless something really is wrong with the cache.
I grumble to myself when the coords are off over 15 feet, but don’t note it in the log unless they’re over 30 feet off.
Your radius doesn’t go out far enough so I didn’t vote. 😉
I echo TBC’s advice. Just ignore idiot logs. 30′ is WELL within the range of acceptability. Besides, 30′ is really just 15′ – 15 feet on your device plus 15 feet on his in the other direction from a particular GZ.
On the Left Side of the Road...I also didn’t vote since your numbers don’t go high enough. Finding a cache 30-40′ off isn’t unusual. We’ve found them up to 75′ off, which of course isn’t acceptable. In cases like that we post the coordinates that we found the cache at in our log and hope the owner makes the change or checks on the cache. I had 2 dnf’s on a hide of ours in recent weeks and went to check on it and on that day the coordinates were 25′ off for me. I checked allof the logs from the 45 cachers who made the find and there were no mentions of bad coordinates. Normally my coordinates are very good so I left them as they were.
@Mister Greenthumb wrote:
I had 2 dnf’s on a hide of ours in recent weeks and went to check on it and on that day the coordinates were 25′ off for me. I checked allof the logs from the 45 cachers who made the find and there were no mentions of bad coordinates. Normally my coordinates are very good so I left them as they were.
That wasn’t the one I DNFd was it…I read the logs too and saw no mention of a problem with coords….I figured I just was fated not to find that one…if so I guess I need to vote for 0-15.
I think it also has to do with the type of cache. I recently had someone complain in a log that they felt my coordinates were off by 35 feet for a P&R cache. The next two people went in “naked” and found it immediately…and one was a 6 y.o. kid!
Given that a placer’s coordinates may be off 30 feet or so, and my GPS may also be off 30 feet or so — I’ve been willing to look much further than 45 feet sometimes.
@lostby7 wrote:
@Mister Greenthumb wrote:
I had 2 dnf’s on a hide of ours in recent weeks and went to check on it and on that day the coordinates were 25′ off for me. I checked allof the logs from the 45 cachers who made the find and there were no mentions of bad coordinates. Normally my coordinates are very good so I left them as they were.
That wasn’t the one I DNFd was it…I read the logs too and saw no mention of a problem with coords….I figured I just was fated not to find that one…if so I guess I need to vote for 0-15.
That’s the one and the other dnf was OPPS5, but Doug was in charge that day. The hint narrows it down to only a few possible spots.
@Mister Greenthumb wrote:
@lostby7 wrote:
@Mister Greenthumb wrote:
I had 2 dnf’s on a hide of ours in recent weeks and went to check on it and on that day the coordinates were 25′ off for me. I checked allof the logs from the 45 cachers who made the find and there were no mentions of bad coordinates. Normally my coordinates are very good so I left them as they were.
That wasn’t the one I DNFd was it…I read the logs too and saw no mention of a problem with coords….I figured I just was fated not to find that one…if so I guess I need to vote for 0-15.
That’s the one and the other dnf was OPPS5, but Doug was in charge that day. The hint narrows it down to only a few possible spots.
Doug huh? That explains it…should have let the kids find it. 😈
Let’s see we found one over 20 miles off. Several a few hundred feet off… guess if there is a clue or something in the text that gives us an idea we don’t mind going as far as needed to get a smiley? Of course we prefer less than 20 feet.
TEMy search radius is highly dependant on how long it took me to get there and how far I had to walkclimbswimboat etc. I also take into consideration terrain. But i typically search 30-50 feet from gz.
Last week, for what ever reason, my GPS was +/- 75 feet for 2 days. and normaly I’m +/- 15-20 feet. A lot of it deals with weather,cover a users GPS. There was a local cache that didn’t have WASS enabled on her unit. The caches were 35-50 feet off. Look at the game pin the tail on the waypoint. I did that at an event I hosted last spring. Opend some eyes as to how far gps units can be even if they have the same units.
I voted but agree that the numbers were not high enough.You have to take the good with the bad and not sweat it.
We do our absolute best to get accurate coords for our caches. Averaging, and sometimes using two different brands of GPS just to make sure on our NEMESIS series. This being done, we still get complaints on occasion that the cache was 15′ or so off. Sometimes far more than that. GPS is not exact, hence the accuracy +/- reading on them.
I’ll search more than 100 feet out regularly, because I hate coming back for a cache I missed. It’s also become habit through the years because I came into this sport hunting caches hidden by a friend that is generally pretty far off. You know who you are, and I’m still waiting for a new series!
@thebalks wrote:
My search radius is highly dependant on how long it took me to get there and how far I had to walkclimbswimboat etc. I also take into consideration terrain. But i typically search 30-50 feet from gz.
For me it also depends on the situation of the area, the cache size, and sometimes other variables as well. I have posted in some logs how far off the coords may be. I try to take variables into consideration. A hide under dense tree cover doesn’t raise a flag with me, especially if it was hidden when trees were leafless and it is now summer. However, if it is a brand new cache that is along a bike trail for example, I may post something that may alert the owner in case more cachers come across the same thing.
I FTF a cemetery cache earlier this year that was about 50′ off. Because she was a friend of mine, I shot new coords for her. There was no interference form overhead obstructions, my gps accuracy was at 13′, I turned my gps off and reacquired satellites three different times. All three times I came up with the same results. My GZ was about 50′ from the posted coords. I let her know about it in case she wanted to make a change. I don’t remember if she did or not, but of the next few finders, about half said the coords were about 50′ off, and the others said that they were right on.
I usually post if the coords are dead on. This has only happened to me, I believe three times. I know at least two were in rock piles which I absolutely hate. The reasoning here is to let future cachers know that they don’t have to go nuts flipping every thing over, and possibly ruining the area.
Just this morning I found a cache that was 32′ off from what “my” gps said. Thankfully they had a clue, otherwise I would not have found it. Most of the time I would say I am within 10′ which is perfect (unless you are on a pile of rocks). Depending on the area I don’t go to far out of 20′ radius. I try to find the obvious places for a cache to be hidden near GZ.
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