Hi!
We just started caching in March and we had some trouble at first, but now we've learned some tricks and you will, too! Keep trying, and you'll get there.
A couple of things we learned...
(1) Another cacher kindly shared with us that power lines can throw off your GPS a bit. Now when we are caching if it seems like the coordinates are not quite right or our GPS seems to jumping around a bit, we look around to see if there are power lines. If there are, we usually widen our search a bit.
(2) A couple of times we have found caches in really woody areas. We ended up going through crazy amounts of brush, etc. to find it. Once we find it, we tend to step out of the woods near where we found it and then when you look back you see that it was at the obvious clearing, but we didn't appropach it that way. So if you are approaching a wooded area, look to see if there is a cleary...more often than not, the easiest route is the correct one because it's gotten worn away by so many people looking for it.
(3) We've started "watching" the ones we are struggling with. That way we can see if other people are having problems...if they are, then we know we aren't the only ones and that makes you feel better. Plus it might be an indication that it is damaged or missing. Then if other people are finding it them you might see new clues in their logs, or you might just feel up to going back with fresh eyes sometimes.
Good luck!
