Actually many caches here in Oregon are hidden just as you describe. In a area of thick forest with variable (at best) signal. Usually they are buried up to the lid of the container, and then covered with pine needles or decomposing leaves, etc. They can be pretty tough to find.

As far as Arizona, I have found a handful of caches that are "buried" in some way...I'm sure the "old timers" on the list can remember a certain cache at a monument commemorating a pretty famous prospector that when it first came out had a lot of us scratching our heads...especially me. It was a fun cache, I'm sure most who found it in the first few months of its existence would agree that it was one of their favorite cache.

Point is, there are some buried caches, I can't say that I have ever found one where I needed a digging implement of some kind...I think that is what the guidelines are referring to, they don't want people out there digging holes all over the place to find a cache. However, leaves, pine needles, rocks, etc. covering the top of a cache in my opinion is fine.

Joe

TeamBlunder

I feel that we should not bury a cache completely. If I were to bury a
cache in the woods by me I can promise you it would never be found. I
could cover it with pine needles and the signal would not be stable with
the trees around you. I'm sure I read somewhere that it is not
recommended that you bury your cache completely and I will try to find
the reference.

Bob Smith, Team Petite Elite, Prescott, AZ