GULF SHORES, Ala. — When he’s out geocaching, Orange Beach resident Roger Reetz uses a handheld Global Positioning System device, or his iPhone, a set of clues downloaded from the Internet and, most importantly, his wits to find hidden treasure. Sometimes the Gulf Shores Middle School teacher gets a fun trip to somewhere he’s never been before. Sometimes he finds treasure.

Geocaching. What’s that? Treasure? How do I get in on that?

Simply put, it’s a hunt. Enthusiasts place “caches” or containers out in places that range from parks to islands in the middle of swamps. The containers can range from ammo boxes (purchased at military supply stores) filled with “treasure,” small items ‘cachers can take, replacing with an item of their own, to tiny little button-sized containers with just enough room for a tightly rolled strip of paper to serve as a log so visitors can record their finds. They then note the GPS location and post it along with some clues to guide others on a website, www.geocaching.com.

That helps others find the cache. There are even things like “bugs” or “geocoins” that can be tracked, allowing people to see where their bug or coin has gone.

“I found a geocoin up in Birmingham,” said Brady Haynes, the youth minister at Orange Beach United Methodist Church. He described the coin as being particularly beautiful when held up to the light, but the big surprise came when Haynes went to geocaching.com to log his find.

“I thought it (the coin) was neat, but when I logged in, prior to Birmingham, the coin was in Rome. Someone found it there, brought it to Birmingham and then dropped it into an alley.”

Haynes and his wife, Christy, later placed the coin in a cache in the Bahamas, and he has enjoyed following the coin’s travels ever since. It’s been to Canada and Alaska, he reports.

The caches can be fiendishly difficult to find. Reetz has a “button cache” that looks like a rivet or something that would go on a metal rail. The cache that Reetz has put out has weathered so it closely matches the other metal where he’s put it. It, Reetz says, is truly difficult to find.

“I get lots of e-mail about that one,” chuckled Reetz, who is also a conservation officer at Gulf State Park and an Orange Beach police officer.

Reetz says his sons, Conrad and Bennett, are Cub Scouts who enjoy geocaching.

“We were on the U.S.S. Alabama as part of a Cub Scout sleepover,” said Reetz. “There was one clue to a cache, and you needed 15. You had to find the other 14 which were in the ship, submarine and museum.”

Reetz described how the Scouts would have to look for clues.

“You had to look at everything very closely,” telling how one clue was found in an officer’s log book on a table in his room in the submarine. The coordinates were located and the Cubs and one very excited and tired Cubmaster found the cache.

Reetz says he and his sons “have a great time” geocaching together.

“Some people cache for the numbers (number of finds) and others place more value on the places geocaching will take you. It’s more about the destination and the journey.”

Haynes had heard of geocaching, but it was not until the first iPhone GPS application came on the market that he began the adventure. The inexpensive application and the advent of portable GPS receivers made it possible for he and his family to share in the hobby.

Haynes and his children, Abel, 11, Aris, 8, and Audrey, 5, go geocaching together.

“The kids love it,” he said. The oldest enjoys the hunt, but Aris still likes finding the treasure.

“I tell people it’s a way to get your Indiana Jones on.”

According to Reetz, caches should not be placed near schools or in National Parks. He added it’s important to mark the point you left your vehicle on your GPS as a “waypoint” so you can find your way back.

Cache seekers and placers should have permission before putting anything on, or trooping through, private property.

Here are a few geocaching suggestions from www.treadlightly.org:

Tips for responsible geocaching:

• Check with local land managers to determine regulations before placing or searching for a cache. The National Park Service, for example, has strict geocaching regulations.

• Keep vehicles on designated roads and trails.

• Use the “track back” feature on your GPS unit rather than flagging and marking trails.

• In addition to your GPS receiver, always carry extra batteries, a map and compass — and know how to use them.

• Practice the “lift, look, replace” technique. If you lift a rock to look under it, replace it exactly as you found it.

• Following a trip, wash your gear to reduce the spread of invasive species.

• Traditional geocaching is not appropriate in areas designated as wilderness.

Cache placers:

• Avoid sensitive areas, including cultural sites, wetlands, caves and steep slopes.

• Avoid burying a cache in the ground.

• It is the cache owner’s responsibility to maintain the cache and the surrounding area. If the cache area becomes impacted, confer with the landowner on how you will mitigate the impacts, and seek their advice as to whether to relocate the cache.

• Never place food items in a cache.

Cache seekers:

• Use maps to find a route that will minimize impact.

• If you notice a path has started to wear in the vicinity of a cache, notify the cache owner via e-mail.

• When allowed to hike off designated trails, spread out in open country. One exception is in deserts, where hikers should travel in single file and try to walk on hardened surfaces such as slickrock, gravel or in sand washes.

• After you’ve finished searching for a cache, the area should look as though you were never there or better than when you arrived.