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March 2017: Decoy

Special caches in Maryland!
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humphr1d
Former MGS Officer
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 1:29 am
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March 2017: Decoy

Post by humphr1d »

Finally the calendar is has changed over to spring and the weather is reluctantly following. With this time of year comes additional daylight and the opportunity to cache more or spend more time on a single cache. This month’s highlighted geocache may be the latter! Definitely not a “Perk and Grab”, this is a cache that may take you awhile to find but is definitely a rewarding experience when you finally find the true cache container.

Image

de•coy
verb
/dǝkoi/
Lure or entice (a person or animal) away from an intended course, typically into a trap.A bird or mammal, or an imitation of one, used by hunters to attract other birds or mammals.
A pond from which

Decoy

GC Code: GC3Z07D https://coord.info/GC3Z07D (This is a Premium Member Only Cache)

Where it's located: Intersection of Maryland routes 26 and 97 just northwest of Eldersburg in Carroll County

Favorite Points: 48

Description:
We’ve spent a couple of months cooking this one up, it took a while to get the hide just right. It will either frustrate you to no end, or you will find it amusing. All up to you, really. Happy hunting!

Cache appeal. Pretty subjective topic really, but we all deal with it. There is always a reason you went to look for that particular hide, or alternatively, a reason you skipped it. Afterwards, there is always an assessment, even if it is only internal, as to whether the search you just made was worth it. We try to provide caches we think are worth doing, and we try to describe them well enough to allow you seekers to assess whether they are your sort of thing before hand, so you don’t waste your time.

So here’s this one:

Modeled after a cache by one of our original caching friends, Cadea, who we cached with many times in Connecticut.

Located where Liberty Road (MD 26) meets Old Washington Road (MD 97), about which we’ve been able to find very little information. This intersection is labeled “Dorsey Crossroads” on USGS survey maps and many other maps, and Wikipedia has a stub referring to the “Hamlet of Dorsey Crossroads” in its description of MD 850. Further south on MD 97, a road called Fannie Dorsey crosses east/west, but that is all we know. If you any of you find out something more, please pass it along!

Why here? Placed to provide a cache to hunt for as part of the Carroll County ADC Challenge (GC34YJM), as there is no cache hidden on this page (4572) of that map book at present. By the way, thanks to Deepdish23 for keeping that one up, it is fun to do!

Reasons to seek this hide:

• It hasn’t been found yet and you are a First to Find afficionado.
• You are working on the ADC challenge mentioned above and you need a find for this page of the book.
• It is convenient; near your home, or along a route you usually take, 26 and 97 being well travelled, it may be on your way to another hide you seek.
• You like a somewhat challenging hide with a sense of humor.
• There is some other cache of ours you’ve been unable to find, and you are trying to figure out how we think. Good luck with that!

Reasons not to seek this hide:

• The vicinity of the hide, in and of itself, is not a reason to go there. Not to say that it is unappealing, just to say that this is not a location that has some awesome view or incredible feature you should not miss.
• You don’t like frustration.
• Spiders and snakes are not your cup of tea (we’ve spotted both here).

Practical considerations:

There is plenty of parking near the hide. There are times when the local constabulary hangs out here, which may add to your frustration. Best bet in those scenarios is to move on, seek another hide, and come back later. You may also have the same issue with non-cachers being in your way. There is no need to be in the street. The cache can be found at any time; as with all hides, it will be more challenging at some times then at others (seasons, time of day, quality of light, whether or not manure has been recently spread on the nearby fields…).

Persistence will be the key here. Remain focused, and don’t t let the distractions get to you!

As with all your searches, please do some research, and use good voyage planning techniques. Know your limitations, employ risk management, and don’t take on something that is beyond your capability. Some of you do this all the time, some rarely; in end, it is you who are accountable for what happens to you, mentally, emotionally and physically as the result of seeking this hide.

One final note:

You already know this…however, in order to claim a find, you have to sign the log. If you can’t sign the log, let us know with a “needs maintenance” entry and we’ll fix it. Then you can come back and sign it. No exceptions. The log is a notepad of some sort, in a plastic bag, in a container. The log says “this fine hide placed by Zekester & Simon”. Sign that log, you made the find. If you didn’t find that log, you ain’t done yet, go find it!

Wonder why they thought it was necessary to say all that….hmmmm.

Selected Finder logs:

Brush Boy Brush Girl: We decided to give this one a try. Got to GZ, ah there it is I have seen this trick before, wait that's not it. OK looking around a bit more, there it is, all right now to sign the log. Wait that’s not it either. OK read the hint, looking now that was an easy find. Now just sign the log and we will be on our way, struck out again. Now we are really scratching our heads. One more idea, yep there it is. Signed the log and took the TB. Nice cache, it certainly took a lot of work to put this together. Gets a fav point.
Thanks

HunterKat: SgtMikal and I had time to chase this one after finding the MPPCC series. Pulled in, jumped out, and he had his hands on it quickly while I was heading a different direction. We were surprised, because for a change, my GPS was playing more accurately today than his. Took awhile to get the log out, and as he was finally unrolling it to sign, discovered it to be a red herring. Foo! Okay, I'm going back toward my first assumption, he's off another way. He's got it, I'm turning around, and it's another fishy. Back to my second instinct, and he's got another one - what?!? I ended up finding the real thing. This is well done, and gets a fave from me!

The Warner Family: We're doing a few caches with GoGoGranny and GeoJimbo on our way home from DC.
We found the first Decoy as soon as we got out of the car. We found the second decoy about 30 seconds later. The third decoy was in or hands about a minute after that. Then, we found the REAL cache container. The problem was that we didn't realize it and put it back where we found it. Shortly after that, we found the 4th decoy. After that, we found a container a container that took us about 15 minutes and several "tools" to retrieve. We thought we had it this time but when we opened it...... Yep! another decoy! Jim then found the 6th decoy a few feet below the 5th one. Damn! We CAN'T give up now. It's no longer a cache. It's a QUEST. Jim went back and rechecked one of the previous "items" that we found and I heard him yell "Son of a B#%%H! No way!" I guess sometimes persistence pays. This one gets 2 favorite points! We signed the log "WaJiGo"
Thanks for a GREAT hide!
One question...... Were there any decoys that we DIDN'T find?
Thanks for the hunt!

Cooley1103: Oh the DNF has been avenged.
What sucks about asking your friends about a cache is when they tell you that you had in your hands the last time you were there. Usually they are giggling like a school girl and delighting in your failures, but if you listen close enough they will usually tell you enough to know what or where you looked to know what you need to check next time. Thanks to notes I got off Deepdish23, who was at a 6 out of 10 on the giggling school girl scale, I stopped by to avenge my prior DNF.
I get to the spot, and my first thought is, "I remember it being right there!!!" I was not seeing the cache for some reason. So now I am worried that my personal giggling school girl had led me in the wrong direction. So I start to look harder and notice it a little further away. Now I go after it, but my stupid pen is stuck in my pocket. I start thinking, "Great, I found the cache, but can't sign the log!" Some maneuvering and the pen is freed for me to put some of my signature green ink on the log. I put the cache back in the spot I found it and headed home with my head held high knowing that I am walking away with a great find worthy of a favorite.
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Basssax
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Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2004 1:00 am
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Location: Columbia, MD

Re: March 2017: Decoy

Post by Basssax »

Well, we did find this one with some indirect assistance. The poor remains of a lowly creature were there to greet us, but probably a few weeks ago this would not have been "fresh" and "Lovely" cache to visit. And as it was dry things went well. It does receive a favorite point from me. We had a good time.
Thanks,
Basssax
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