Permission to place?

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Firefeliness
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Permission to place?

Post by Firefeliness » 08 March 11 12:01 pm

Hi all,

I am new to geocaching and have a question regarding the guidelines for placing a geocache. The rules state that you need to get permission to place a cache. I live in Western Australia and know there are many caches in local parks etc, and was wondering if those owners got permission and if so how? Do many councils know about geocaching and how can you convince them that a geocache will not harm the park? Thanks in advance for anyone (esp fellow WA cachers) who have had experience with this issue.

Firefeliness

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Teirae
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Re: Permission to place?

Post by Teirae » 08 March 11 12:38 pm

having never placed one, i dont actually know the answer...sorry

but did just want to say welcome to the game!

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blossom*
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Re: Permission to place?

Post by blossom* » 08 March 11 12:46 pm

Most cachers would not get permission to place a cache that's located in an area generally accessible by the public such as local parks. As long as you use your common sense and follow the guidelines to ensure your cache doesn't cause any problems, you should be ok.

Please keep in mind that it's not a good idea to put a cache in a playground area where young kids play as it isn't great to look as if you're loitering around. There are lots of common sense things to consider and, as you find all sorts of different styles of caches hidden in various places and clever ways, you will soon come to recognise what works well and what doesn't.

Plus of course reading the guidelines on the GC (geocaching.com) site and here on the GCA (geocaching.com.au) site (always more informative and more relevent I think :D )

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noikmeister
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Re: Permission to place?

Post by noikmeister » 09 March 11 2:04 pm

And (while not directly related to your question. Sorry), here is some unsolicited advice:

* Find a lot of caches before you hide. If you are in a cache-dense area find 100.
* Discard your first 5 ideas, but come back to one if you can't think of a better one after you find 100
* Place a cache you'd love to find (and learn what you love to find during your first 100 finds)
* In the A.C.T. we have an awards night every year. One of the awards is "Best first hide". Try to win that award, even if there is nothing to win in your community. You only get 1 first hide.

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Bewilderbeest
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Re: Permission to place?

Post by Bewilderbeest » 09 March 11 3:21 pm

norkmeister wrote:And (while not directly related to your question. Sorry), here is some unsolicited advice:

* Find a lot of caches before you hide. If you are in a cache-dense area find 100.
* Discard your first 5 ideas, but come back to one if you can't think of a better one after you find 100
* Place a cache you'd love to find (and learn what you love to find during your first 100 finds)
* In the A.C.T. we have an awards night every year. One of the awards is "Best first hide". Try to win that award, even if there is nothing to win in your community. You only get 1 first hide.
And to add my endorsement to these sentiments, of all my geocaching statistics, this is the one Im proudest of. Dont hide a cache just for the sake of it - hide one that will make people want to tell their friends about it.

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gmj3191
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Re: Permission to place?

Post by gmj3191 » 09 March 11 3:32 pm

Bewilderbeest wrote:
norkmeister wrote:And (while not directly related to your question. Sorry), here is some unsolicited advice:

* Find a lot of caches before you hide. If you are in a cache-dense area find 100.
* Discard your first 5 ideas, but come back to one if you can't think of a better one after you find 100
* Place a cache you'd love to find (and learn what you love to find during your first 100 finds)
* In the A.C.T. we have an awards night every year. One of the awards is "Best first hide". Try to win that award, even if there is nothing to win in your community. You only get 1 first hide.
And to add my endorsement to these sentiments, of all my geocaching statistics, this is the one Im proudest of. Dont hide a cache just for the sake of it - hide one that will make people want to tell their friends about it.
And care about your cache. Place it wisely and treat it as an investment in enjoyment.
Don't place some crummy micro that gets found to make up the numbers, place something you'll be proud of and get a kick out of reading the logs.
Find a neat place and place the largest cache you can hide as a test of your hiding skills. That way you'll attract Travel Bugs and swaps too.
Don't be afraid to invest a few dollars as it will more than repay you if it's a good cache.

Firefeliness
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Re: Permission to place?

Post by Firefeliness » 10 March 11 10:16 am

Thanks so much for the welcome and the advice. I have no plans to place a cache just yet but was curious about how people got around the official rules here in Oz. I plan in finding lots of caches before even thinking about placing my own, wouldn't want to place one thats boring to find! Hope to meet some of you out and about on the trail :)

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Yurt
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Re: Permission to place?

Post by Yurt » 10 March 11 10:53 am

In hindsight many of us probably regret our first cache placement. That said, it was by far our most popular and quite a few were introduced to caching via finding it so it did a job.
My advice would be to make your first find at least a regular size, micros are usually best placed by the experienced cachers.
(cue the anti-micro rants)

garnercx
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Re: Permission to place?

Post by garnercx » 10 March 11 12:20 pm

norkmeister wrote:* Find a lot of caches before you hide. If you are in a cache-dense area find 100.
* Discard your first 5 ideas, but come back to one if you can't think of a better one after you find 100
* Place a cache you'd love to find (and learn what you love to find during your first 100 finds)
I really agree with this. I had some ideas when I first started caching that were quite ambitious and as a result I didn't place caches. This means I didn't compromise and place a rubbish cache, and instead waited. When it came time to place my first cache, I already had more than 300 finds.

Don't place caches for the sake of it - wait until you have a great idea. I have only placed two caches and I reckon they're both great.

I would love to place a shipping container in the outback with a key nearby as a multi-cache. That idea will have to wait.

I would also like to get my stainless steel welding friend to help me build some cleverly engineered inner city camo caches. Unfortunately he lives in a different state at the moment so that will have to wait as well.

In geocaching, quality is usually better than quantity.

belken
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Re: Permission to place?

Post by belken » 10 March 11 1:02 pm

In WA there are a few no go areas. Bold Park is one. Kings Park another. I believe there may have been an issue on the South Perth foreshore. All other areas I believe are fairgame.

The UMP/Papa Bear Left is WA based and is a great source of info for listing on the Groundspeak site. Not all caches are listed there make sure you have a go at some on the GCA site.

There is a nice walk in the hills that you can do by combining a few caches from both sites. These will give you a real good idea of some hides that can be achieved in good Wandoo forest. Good cool spring/autumn/winter day is best. These hides give you an idea of what can be shared by bushwalkers through geocaching. Read the pages and follow advice.

Someone else may give you good examples of good urban hides.

belken
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Re: Permission to place?

Post by belken » 10 March 11 2:09 pm

To add.

With regards to hiding. Except in the no go zones mentioned above if you can access an area legally then hiding a cache should not be a problem. Permission to hide should not be an issue do not persue it.

The hider should hide their cache from non geocachers. This includes bomb squads/police/council workers/Cia etc etc. A geocacher should find, retrieve and replace the cache keeping it hidden from all non geocachers. That is the geocaching experience.

Some people think that it is clever and appropriate to hide a magnetic nano on any length of steel. It is neither. There are clever urban hides.

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