A Silly Question, But I'm Having Trouble.

[Bama Cache]

I recently bought a Magellan Explorist 100 and started to geocache. I've gone out twice in search of caches but always come back without a find. I get to the coordinates and search all over the place and can never find it.

 

Any idea on what I'm doing wrong? Am I relying too much on my gps?

 

Any tips would be appreciated.

[+Rick618]

First, welcome to caching. You are welcome to stop by alacache and join the local cachers. The next event, GCV97X, in your area is April 27. You should be able to show up, meet some new folks, and get all the help you need.

 

http://www.alacache.com/

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...54-dca69b6a7457

[+icefall5]

Well, it could be a number of things. The eXplorist 100 does not have a USB port (can't remember the "official" name of it), so you could have entered the coords wrong. You could be doing a 5/5 cache (very unlikely, though). You could just be looking in the obvious spots and not the hard ones.

 

My advice is get to where your GPSr says 10 feet, then don't look at it anymore. Just look for the cache. When I first started, I would always go right to ground zero and say "It's not here!" and just go home. So just keep trying.

 

P.S. The model of GPSr has nothing to do with it. All GPS's get the same reception in the same places, i.e. if you took an eXplorist 800 and the eXplorist 100 and put them in the same spot, they would tell you the same thing.

 

Good luck!

[+wandererrob]

 

My advice is get to where your GPSr says 10 feet, then don't look at it anymore. Just look for the cache. When I first started, I would always go right to ground zero and say "It's not here!" and just go home. So just keep trying.

 

I'd probably stop trusting your GPSr at much closer than about 30 feet depending on tree cover and such. After a few passes you can get a rough idea, but betwwen your GPSr's error and the hider's as well, it's not unusual to find the cache 30ish feet "off" from the published coordinates. This isn't to say this is always the case, but you'll rarely get right to the cache relying on just what the unit says.

 

My best advise is when you get close, start looking around. I often start by asking myself where *I'd* hide a cache in this area. Then go from there. After a few finds, you'll develop more of a cache sense (for lack of a better term).

 

Also, be sure to start off with caches rated below 2/2. 1/1 is the easiest, being flat ground and you basically walk up to them.

 

But don't give up. and welcome to geocaching. It's all downhill from here.

[Bama Cache]

Thanks. I search the entire area. Under every rock, over hang, in every crevice, anywhere and everywhere... and I never have any luck. I come back and check my coord. and they are correct. I'm sure I will get better in time.

 

I was going to attend the little get together Thursday in Northport, but I have a paper due the next day and really have no time to attend. I will catch the next one. I really wanted to come.

[+Frettchen_2006]

Another thing is to gather as much information as possible about the cache. Check the container size (micro...if so what kind? (altoids tin, 35mm film cannister, etc), tupperware box, ammo can), read the hints, read the logs for hints, look at pictures. I'm still at under 20 finds and I do this to gather as much info as I can until I feel more comfortable with various types of hides and hiding styles and working with the GPSr. Yes, it's a bit of a spoiler in some ways, but with each find I learn and use less and less of the information for the next one

[+Team JSAM]

Make sure to take your time all the above tips should get you to the cache I go caching with my 5 yr old all the time and I tend to quickly look in the easy spots and then move to the hard spots and she will find them before me alot. Also where you are help to how dead on your gpsr will be like in an open plain it will take you real close but down in the bottom of a canyon not so close I first stop at 10 feet then search the small area and if I dont find then I make about a 60 ft search area so far all my desert cache have been located but for some reason I'm not so good at urban caches, just keep with it you will find that the sport it very rewarding.

[catcher28]

I have the same modle and moast of the time it leads me right to ground zero

[Bama Cache]

After reading all of the replies, I decided to go back out today and attempt a few caches. Out of the four I attempted, I found three. I got within about 30 ft and started looking. Two of the caches required little looking at all.

 

Thanks for the advice.

[+soonerdg]

I recently bought a Magellan Explorist 100 and started to geocache. I've gone out twice in search of caches but always come back without a find. I get to the coordinates and search all over the place and can never find it.

 

Any idea on what I'm doing wrong? Am I relying too much on my gps?

 

Any tips would be appreciated.

 

Try using a compass along with your GPSr. You can set your compass to the bearing that your GPSr gives you and that's the direction of the cache. Take 3-4 readings from different spots and you can usually zero in on the postion very easily.

 

Experience will also give you ideas on where the cache is likely to be placed.

[+Adrenalynn]

After reading all of the replies, I decided to go back out today and attempt a few caches. Out of the four I attempted, I found three. I got within about 30 ft and started looking. Two of the caches required little looking at all.

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

Congrats, Bama Cache!

 

There's some great starter advice in this thread, so be sure to read through it all a few times. But now you're well on your way to finding [nearly] every cache! Grats!

[+BellsRUs]

One of the things I've discovered is that the cache is often covered up with bark or leaves or twigs to help hide the container. If I stand and look around for natural material that looks "out of place" (as odd as it sounds that sticks/twigs/bark would look out of place in the outdoors! ) I can often see where a cacher has piled something over the cache container. The pile is just too "man-made" to have ended up that way naturally.

 

I still have DNFs (did not find caches), but I make sure I log them. When my daughter and I first looked for a cache 2 years ago we couldn't find it and I logged it as a DNF. I was injured and unable to cache for a couple of years and have just started back up. I went back to that cache and was amazed at how simple it was to find! (Of course, this time around there wasn't any snow covering the hiding place so it was much easier to spot!).

 

Have fun!

Patti

Edited April 28, 2006 by BellsRUs