Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: TRACY on May 19, 2013, 10:34:32 pm
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My son wanted to try geocaching this weekend and we turned it into a family affair. It was a lot of fun and we will be doing more of it in the future. I decided to put some of my smaller points that I make into the cache and hope others will enjoy them.
Tracy
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Splain please. Too lazy to look it up.
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Sorry, it's where you use GPS to log in coordinates for a specific hidden cache that someone has placed usually on a public place or their property. You have to navigate to the general location and search. The GPS will get you close (5-30 ft) but you have to figure out exactly where the cache is hidden. The general rule is take an item and leave an item in the cache. There are some items that are trackables meaning they are logged in on a website as found and then off to a new cache somewhere else. The caches that we have found have ranged from film canisters to an ammo can in size with most being small to medium. I tried using my map function on the iPhone by plugging in the coordinates for a cache, but that does not work well- GPS is not that detailed. There is a geocaching app that can be purchased that notifies you of caches and allows you to track your finds. I would recommend this even though it is pricey. It will make the experience more enjoyable but not too easy.
Tracy
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Got it.
Bring a bag of red dirt to fill the hole and mark the location, like they did it back in the day, no? That is, if you are burying the stuff.
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We were hiking @ CrookedCreek Lake and silas went into a big hollow sycamore and found a cord on the wall. I checked it out and it was a cache site with an ammo box up in the top of the hollow. We left a note a bandana and the boys took a pack of seeds and an action figure. I got Silas a GPS after that, but we have yet to use it to treasure hunt. Glad you had fun, Would like to try it sometime. I'm out of school on Friday. Hope to use the GPS to find some chert sites in southern Monroe county off a geological map I have. HAve a gooder, dpg
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I did it some in college. It was a lot of fun. Being College boys we prefered to go at night because of the extra challenge. It would be a great family outing especially for young kids. Glad yall had a good time.
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10-4 Patrick.
Derik, I thought I remembered you telling me about that find once. Wednesday is my last day until August!!! Give me a shout if you want to go on a rock run near or far 8)
Marks, nightime finds would be awesome! We might try that to challenge the hunt
Tracy
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We had some folks put a geocache in the dog park. Shortly thereafter another person was screaming at people to "control their dogs!" Yeah, one of the three leashfree parks in a city with over 30 city parks and she loses her cool because she chose to show up there? Several other people complained and even posted a letter on the bulletin board complaining about the dogs ruining their "experience".
The geocache was removed some short while later when people objected to the rapidly degrading bio-organics they found in it.
By and large most geochachers are respectful of where they leave their "treasures", but there are some that think it is fine to leave them in or on private property, State/Municipal/Federal Parks where it is often illegal. Check out the ethical guidelines of geochaching and go have a blast!
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???
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Like JW said, be respectful where you put em. There was a suspicious package threat at my local college while I was there that was a geocache we had previously found.
There was another geocache that was a magnetic key holder in the alley of a restaurant. It was daytime and we never found it but we got the cops called on us by a nosey old couple in a child molester van across the street. We noticed they were staring but ignored them. The officer was very polite and we explained ourselves. He left us be and drove over to the old folks and told em we were fine.
If you go at night you must take even more precaution. You look a lot more suspicious nosing around with flashlights than you do in the daytime. A lot of parks close at night. We got kicked out of one by park police at night. hehe.
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While at work tonight we had to go check a building near a vacant lot. When we came out of the building there was a car parked behind our work truck and a guy was across the road doing something behind a guard rail. He got in his car and drove off. This vacant lot is kind of a hot spot for problems. We have found two dead bodies there. We figured the guy was doing some kind of a drug drop off or something. We went and looked around and we found a small plastic container with a magnet on it stuck to the back of the guardrail. We opened it and found a strip of paper with dates and initials. The heading was for some kind of Geo tracking website. The guy was just planting it for someone else to find I guess. We were kind of disapointed, we thought we had broke up a drug deal. We put it back where we found it.
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The thing that bugs me is the "micro" caches. You can spend a half hour looking for some of those, and still walk away wondering if you didn't look hard enough, or if some donkey walked away with it or something like that.
It's a great way to get some exercise though, and a lot of times it can take you to interesting places that you wouldn't normally go. There are websites that list hundreds of thousands of them. When the wifey and I are travelling with the dogs we will sometimes load a few into the GPS that are on our route, and then make a few stops along the way. Makes a boring road trip a little more exciting.
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Rumor has it geocaching was invented here in the good old Pacific N.w. Guess we need something to do in all this scenic greenery. I've tried it a couple of times and realized I don't like hide and seek , it is kinda neat when I stumble across one with out looking. (Only twice both times in city parks searching log hollows for snakes)
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While at work tonight we had to go check a building near a vacant lot. When we came out of the building there was a car parked behind our work truck and a guy was across the road doing something behind a guard rail. He got in his car and drove off. This vacant lot is kind of a hot spot for problems. We have found two dead bodies there. We figured the guy was doing some kind of a drug drop off or something. We went and looked around and we found a small plastic container with a magnet on it stuck to the back of the guardrail. We opened it and found a strip of paper with dates and initials. The heading was for some kind of Geo tracking website. The guy was just planting it for someone else to find I guess. We were kind of disapointed, we thought we had broke up a drug deal. We put it back where we found it.
Haven't found any dead bodies except for a vulture and a raccoon :)
I realize there is opportunity to raise suspicion and violate trespassing laws, but we are very cautious and considerate when searching for caches. I can see where friction can occur easily in this hobby.
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While at work tonight we had to go check a building near a vacant lot. When we came out of the building there was a car parked behind our work truck and a guy was across the road doing something behind a guard rail. He got in his car and drove off. This vacant lot is kind of a hot spot for problems. We have found two dead bodies there. We figured the guy was doing some kind of a drug drop off or something. We went and looked around and we found a small plastic container with a magnet on it stuck to the back of the guardrail. We opened it and found a strip of paper with dates and initials. The heading was for some kind of Geo tracking website. The guy was just planting it for someone else to find I guess. We were kind of disapointed, we thought we had broke up a drug deal. We put it back where we found it.
Haven't found any dead bodies except for a vulture and a raccoon :)
I realize there is opportunity to raise suspicion and violate trespassing laws, but we are very cautious and considerate when searching for caches. I can see where friction can occur easily in this hobby.
If it wasn't for your post Tracy I would have had no clue what it was about. The area is just one of those spots where a lot of bad things seem to happen. Thats what made us suspicious.
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Haven't found any dead bodies except for a vulture and a raccoon :)
I realize there is opportunity to raise suspicion and violate trespassing laws, but we are very cautious and considerate when searching for caches. I can see where friction can occur easily in this hobby.
Like anything, it seems, there are those very few in the minority that cause the problems. And they would be the ones to cause problems whether they were hunting a geocache or ordering coffee.
And who would geocache a dead vulture or raccoon? Ewww! >:D
I own a really decent GPS and I always seem to forget to grab it before heading out to the woods. Maybe if I were to do some geocache chasing I might get more comfortable with it.
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I'm using an iPhone and app to locate caches ( with the exception of the micros) but wondered if the GPS handheld was more accurate. Either way the tree canopy is probably going to interfere.
Tracy
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would love to try it out BUT and can't figure how to run my GPS.
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would love to try it out BUT and can't figure how to run my GPS.
JEB, there is an app that you can buy that works like a champ and is more user friendly than the handhelds. I got it for the iPhone but my kids downloaded it to their iPods and works just the same. It is a lot of fun and relatively inexpensive.
Tracy
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Cool thread. Any recommendations on handheld units? Tracy- what app do you use?
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Jeff, it is called geocaching.com. I think the app was $10, but it is more interactive than the handheld. You can get pics of the surroundings, times the cache has been found, if it has trackables in it and so on. It will allow you to follow a compass display to the cache or a map showing you and the destination. It will get you within 20-30 feet of the cache which is better than the handheld.
My son and I just got back from the Windy City a couple weeks ago on a school field trip and we were amazed at the number of Geocaches! Wish we had time to explore but the trip agenda didn't allow for it. I wish I would have checked for nearby caches at Wrigley when we were there for the Cubs game ( Cubbies lost :()
Tracy
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WHAT?!?!?! The Cubs lost?!?!?! :'(
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WHAT?!?!?! The Cubs lost?!?!?! :'(
I know, right?
Tracy