Does anyone else feel "guilty" when.....

fidjit · Post by **fidjit** » 09 December 08 11:19 am

the cache you've just found has a DNF logged after your find. Do you worry that you hadn't rehidden properly ???

Case in point, one I did in Sydney had 4 DNFs after I did it. As such I started feeling guilty that I hadn't rehidden it properly, it's fallen off as I hadn't reattached it properly, it was muggled cause someone saw me....etc...etc....

The DNFs weren't new cachers and to me the hide was pretty obvious.

I put a watch on the cache and kept seeing DNFs.........

I couldnt' go and check it myself

Of course the fifth log was a find, so obviously I was worried about nothing

does anyone else get these feelings ????

Note: I didn't feel guilty enough to buy a plane fare to Sydney to check however....

Snuva · Post by **Snuva** » 09 December 08 1:08 pm

Yes, it worries me too. You wonder if you weren't stealthy enough so you're responsible for it being muggled, you didn't place it back solidly, the place you hid a moveable might have had too much security etc. But all you can do is the best you can do!

I of course also feel guilty when I tell a cache owner I'll replace his moveable but it takes me forever as I'm looking for a small plastic bag and my usual supplier no longer has them. . .

pprass · Post by **pprass** » 09 December 08 1:36 pm

Yes of course we do. And we believe that anyone with half a conscience and regard for this game should feel the same way. We hate it when a DNF is reported after our find - and unfortunately it has happened a few times.
Someone once mentioned that there is a stats page in GCA that lists cachers in descending order with that dishonorable statistic - C@W is it still there? Hope we are way down on the list

zactyl · Post by **zactyl** » 09 December 08 1:41 pm

I dislike public hides for this very reason, give me a nice quiet bush setting any day

fidjit · Post by **fidjit** » 09 December 08 1:51 pm

zactyl wrote:I dislike public hides for this very reason, give me a nice quiet bush setting any day

Even if it's a bush hid, if the next find is a DNF, I'd be thinking...... maybe I didn't cover it properly , or put it deep enough in the hole or someone was watching me or aliens took my baby or....................

Must just have a guilty conscience.....

Ksix · Post by **Ksix** » 09 December 08 2:12 pm

We very much dislike it more when we log a DNF on a cache only to see someone that very afternoon (or next day) log "quick easy find" or "found without any trouble" etc etc

Guess it comes down to
"Some days you've got it and others NOT !!!"

Cheers,
Ksix
"Eat... Sleep... Geocache..."

GammaPiSigma · Post by **GammaPiSigma** » 09 December 08 2:16 pm

Fidjit, 
You have every right to be concerned it shows you care about what you are doing which is a good thing. 
I think an even worse situation is when the cache does disappear after you were the last finder. A case in point: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_de ... 2f02&log=y
 
When I found the above cache it was barely covered and when I put it back I put heaps of cover over it as I was concerned that it was far too easy to see from the nearby track.
 
Mike.

Team Wibble · Post by **Team Wibble** » 09 December 08 2:57 pm

I think its natural to feel guilty but if you have been caching responsibly then you should have a clear conscience. These things happen.

Make sure it is hidden as found and that you weren't observed while finding it and you can't really be responsible if the next finds are DNFs.

On the other hand, if you write a log like the last team to find this cache....
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_de ... y&decrypt=

Post by **caughtatwork** » 09 December 08 2:57 pm

pprass wrote:Yes of course we do. And we believe that anyone with half a conscience and regard for this game should feel the same way. We hate it when a DNF is reported after our find - and unfortunately it has happened a few times.
Someone once mentioned that there is a stats page in GCA that lists cachers in descending order with that dishonorable statistic - C@W is it still there? Hope we are way down on the list

You're 10th in Victoria with a score of 12

Bundyrumandcoke · Post by **Bundyrumandcoke** » 09 December 08 6:22 pm

Whats worse is the cacher after you reports the cache has been muggled, or worse destroyed. I've had that happen, a couple of times. Makes me wonder if I was spotted replacing it, or didnt replace well enough.

Cheers
Bundy

nomad_penguin · Post by **nomad_penguin** » 09 December 08 6:31 pm

I keep a 'Guilt List', that is, a bookmark list on GC where I add each cache after I find it. Once the cache is successfully found, I remove it from the list. That way, if there are several DNFs, and I can go and check, I will (it's never happened as far as I can recall).

It's also interesting to see how frequently some caches are found. Z caches and the like have often sat on 'The Guilt List' for months

.

big dazza · Post by **big dazza** » 10 December 08 12:25 am

I too anxiously await caches I find to be found again. So far I have 5 on my watch list, 1 confirmed last to find (very embarrassing) and 1 broken container (oops)

Oh, busted by police once too

strong-arm · Post by **strong-arm** » 10 December 08 9:43 am

caughtatwork wrote:
pprass wrote:Yes of course we do. And we believe that anyone with half a conscience and regard for this game should feel the same way. We hate it when a DNF is reported after our find - and unfortunately it has happened a few times.
Someone once mentioned that there is a stats page in GCA that lists cachers in descending order with that dishonorable statistic - C@W is it still there? Hope we are way down on the list
You're 10th in Victoria with a score of 12

For the paranoid amongst us, is this stat available to all within the site somewhere?

Papa Bear_Left · Post by **Papa Bear_Left** » 10 December 08 10:31 am

I've looked at the "last to find" stats occasionally and some of the same names keep appearing there.

However, it's not because of lack of care on their part, generally, it's more that these are outback travellers who come across the remnants of UV-destroyed plastic containers placed in the early days of caching, before we had the experience to know that a lunchbox doesn't do well in the middle of a desert for years!

The Spindoctors · Post by **The Spindoctors** » 10 December 08 10:45 am

Two months ago I placed four TBs in a cache that then disappeared.

I felt bad five times over - once for the cache owner and again for each of the TB owners.

A week later I placed another TB in one of my caches, onyl to find it went AWOL soon afterwards.