Whatever we feel we SHOULD be doing, the reality is that this is how people play the game. If that's how someone plays, I am not going to deny them the find. BTW nobody has ever called me for a hint on anyone else's cache, but I know that people have called other people for hints on my caches, and I have no problem with it. A hint for FTF is completely under the control of the hider, and whatever they do is fine. If you are keeping notes and you know you're the first one to find it without a hint, then count it as one of your FTFs. Nobody can dispute that.