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How difficult is this?


Eagle Eye Hunters

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We are having some difficulty locating caches. We are really new to this and have only found 1 out of three we went looking for and that was with help. How long does the average search take? We see logs with things lke "quick grab" and " easy one" and they haven't been easy for us. I purchased a used Garmin map76. Is this unit accurate enough?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

Rick

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Hi Rick. I certainly know the feeling. In the beginning I too was only finding about 1 out of every 3 caches I searched for. I'm currently up to about 260 finds and over time my rate of finds is now about 9 out of 10. To be truthful that find rate is only with searching for caches with say a difficulty rating of 2 1/2 stars or less. If I'm searching for harder difficulty rating caches then my DNF rate climbs quickly. So to answer your question yes it can take quite a while to develop your geosense, but don't give up. Also keep in mind that from what I've read here in the Forums even some of the veteran cachers ocassionally get stumped by the ones that everybody claims is an easy park and grab. Another thing I've read on the Forum here is to remember that not all caches are on the ground. So try looking up since hiders have been know to have caches 20 or more feet up a tree to up the difficulty level. The best advise I could give you would probably be to get in touch with your local geocaching organization and meet some veteran cachers and ask if you can go out with a couple of them caching. It's amazing how much you can learn from veterans of this game we all seem to be addicted too. Welcome and happy caching!!!! ;)

 

Edit to fix a typo.

Edited by Michigan Cacheman
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The first couple times, it can seem impossible. but it's not.

 

First, check and make sure that your GPS is set to use the same format as the coordinates posted. Someone else can explain it, but essentially, there are lots of different map datums, and if you're set to the wrong one, your GPS will take you to the coordinates, but way off from the correct datum...

Anyway, WGS84 is the universal one....

 

The GPS will get you pretty close, but they have a margain of error....so when the GPS tells you you're there, it's actually telling you that you and the cache are pretty close to each other, but you still have to hunt around.

 

People put a lot of work and money into their caches, so hiding them well so they won't be accidentally discovered and destroyed is high on the priority list.

 

Caches can range in size from a 5-gallon bucket to a tiny container that you can sit on the end of your finger...the tiny ones can be real buggers to find. So, start hunting for caches marked as "Regular".

 

Even those can be tricky to find. They can be camoflaged to look like an item the belongs there, and they can also be hidden under, behind and inside of other things.

No caches are allowed to be buried, so you never have to dig. Also, you should never have to break or destroy anything to get at the cache.

 

The name of the cache usually offers some suggestions, and the hint will help as well.

 

There are relatively no light post caches where I am, but those are pretty common. (The skirt at the bottom of the light post lifts up, and the cache is hidden under it.) For people who KNOW that, that's an easy one, or quick grab. For someone who is new and doesn't know that they lift up, they can look all day and find nothing.

 

After you get some caches under your belt, you'll be approaching the cache, and be spotting the usual hiding spots before you get to it....in that hollow stump, tucked in beside that log, etc.

 

The caches are rated, terrain and difficulty. If it's a 5 difficulty, it's gonna be HARD to find. But, it depends on how you think when you're looking. Cachers will hundreds of finds have had to come back to a Diff-1 cache several times, because they just weren't looking the right way....

 

If all else fails, take a kid with you. Once they find out there's containers full of toys out there, they'll be sniffing them out like a bloodhound.

 

It's fun, and not nearly as hard as it seems when you first start. Don;t give up.

 

Also, look for an event, or something near you...go with your local club and you'll get lots of pointers.

Edited by gcfishguy
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As said above, start out with easy ones.

 

My daughter and I started about a month ago. We usually only get out on Sundays at the moment, so we're only up to 33 finds. I believe we've only looked for 2 or 3 that were a 3 or 3.5 difficulty. We've searched for 37 total I believe, but 3 of our DNF's were due to the cache being muggled. We have one official dnf that we're still working on.

 

Now that we've got the hang of it, we've been attempting the more difficult caches. Some tips that I was given before we started that have been the most true are:

 

Remember the GPS will usually not get you to the pinpoint location. Your cache will probably be somewhere within a 50-70' radius. Once you're at what your gps is calling ground zero, start using your instincts and clues if any were given.

 

Never assume that "it can't be there". A lot of times it is!

 

We've searched for upwards of 45 minutes on a couple before we found them. Sometimes we'd look for 20 or so, move on, then come back and finally find it.

 

Go get some easy ones, build your confidence back up then get back out there!

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It is really not that difficult. Try for the low numbered difficulty ones and avoid micros.

Go on a few hunts with experienced cachers.

 

Ultimately you'll discover that finding 9 out of ten caches will become the norm.

 

One of the big issues that I found was that during the initial days, you don't really have a clue as to what exactly you are looking for. No wonder you can't find the things, eh? ;-)

Edited by Team Cotati
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We are still new to this and we have found that sometimes we go out and find 2 out of 3 caches we look for, sometimes we go out and find 1 out of 4, sometimes we find 3 out of 4, and a few times we've come up empty. I've decided that this must be the case with others and that there are simply a lot of people who don't log Did Not Find results.

 

There have been a few days when we thought we would go home with all Did Not Finds and as a result hunted the last cache like maniacs. One cache took us an hour of searching to find (in addition to the 45 minute hike). Predictably, the very next person who found that cache wrote that he saw it immediately after a quick ten-minute walk to the site. My heart absolutely sank in despair at how bad we are at this game. But then my beloved pointed out that we had a great deal of fun, got quite a bit of exercise that day, and possibly enjoyed it more than the person who found it quickly and those are the things that really matter.

 

We have become noticeably better as we've learned to think differently. My beloved now looks at a landscape and asks himself, "What part of the landscape would make a good place to hide a cache?" I look around and ask myself, "Which feature of this landscape would make me feel insufferably smug if I managed to hide a cache there?" He is noticeably better at finding micros than I am. But we both enjoy the regulars and smalls better. It is also easier as you become used to the size and shape of the containers the hiders tend to use because it immediately rules out large portions of the landscape as impossible.

 

One other thing to consider is to change your perspective on occasion. I carry a camera with me. One day, as I was taking pictures, I decided that the tree my beloved was currently searching (and had been searching for quite a while) would make a nice shot. So I laid down under the tree and pointed my camera up at the branches. I glanced over at my beloved and at that moment I spotted the cache. It was easy to see from flat on my back, but nearly impossible to find when vertical.

 

Good luck in your hunt!

 

Carolyn

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I think most players have their share of DNF's when they first start playing. I have a couple that are just plain driving me nuts at present. My secret is to keep going back to them every chance I get till I find them.

The weather, cloud cover, satelite constellation and even temperature induced signal refraction can make some wild changes in the GZ (ground zero) indicated by any GPSr. Remember how these things work. They are taking hundreds of readings of radio signals from satelites at very long distances, measuring the timing of those signals in milliseconds, comparing those results to the results of hopefully a lot of other satelites to improve accuracy, creating hundreds of triangulations of all those readings to arrive at coordinates that are located on an irregular sphere instead of a uniform plane, using an electronic instrument that is easilly affected by voltage fluctuations, signal strength, temperature and humidity, and still getting us close enough, most of the time to score some finds. It's really a wonder that any of it works at all! :D Imagine trying this a few years back, with no satelites, a slide rule and a log book. OOPS - Now I'm telling my age. The end result would likely be about one find a year, and then only if you were real good with math.

My point is . . . Give yourself a break! ;) If you have managed to score even one find in your first few attempts, your doing great! It does get easier as you get more experience. Like one of the other people posted . . . You will develope your own "Spidey Sense". :D Like any other activity, it takes time to learn it. Your going to find that developing the skills is really half the fun of it anyway! Have fun!

Seeker Knight

 

 

 

We are having some difficulty locating caches. We are really new to this and have only found 1 out of three we went looking for and that was with help. How long does the average search take? We see logs with things lke "quick grab" and " easy one" and they haven't been easy for us. I purchased a used Garmin map76. Is this unit accurate enough?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

Rick

Link to comment

We are having some difficulty locating caches. We are really new to this and have only found 1 out of three we went looking for and that was with help. How long does the average search take? We see logs with things lke "quick grab" and " easy one" and they haven't been easy for us. I purchased a used Garmin map76. Is this unit accurate enough?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

Rick

We have found nearly 2,000 with our GPS Map 76cs (no x) so it is certainly accurate enough. Follow the advice already given and you should find a few caches, then they will get easier as you gain experience.

 

Good luck and have fun.

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We are having some difficulty locating caches. We are really new to this and have only found 1 out of three we went looking for and that was with help. How long does the average search take? We see logs with things lke "quick grab" and " easy one" and they haven't been easy for us. I purchased a used Garmin map76. Is this unit accurate enough?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

Rick

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I'm new, too- welcome!

 

It hasn't always been super easy, but I have now found all caches that I could not locate on previous attempts except for two. One I think has been muggled, the other is just in a tough place- lots of tree cover in a deep gully.

 

My GPS has been mostly spot on until the last couple caches, where it alerts me way early to ground zero. Not sure if it's me, a setting, or what, but I've still managed to find 4 caches in the two days with minimal problems.

 

Bottom line, be patient. Some of the best advice I've seen here is look for the spot, not the cache. It really seems counter-intuitive, but it's true.

 

Good luck!

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Thank You all very much for the encouragement. we really appreciate the changes suggested. We are a little overwhelmed at the responce. Its a nice feeling to receive support from people who want you to succeed. Again Thanks

P.S. We went to Sea World today and were able to find the virtual cache there . So there you go.

 

Regards To All

Rick

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Thank You all very much for the encouragement. we really appreciate the changes suggested. We are a little overwhelmed at the responce. Its a nice feeling to receive support from people who want you to succeed. Again Thanks

P.S. We went to Sea World today and were able to find the virtual cache there . So there you go.

 

Regards To All

Rick

 

See. it's easy! You've doubled you number of finds! :laughing:

 

It gets easier... Then you find (or rather can't find) a right old so-an-so!

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My family is new to this too...only 3 weeks and 12 or so finds. Another geocaching couple first took us out...then the next week we tried it on our own--and called them for help at the very first cache! They spent the rest of the afternoon coaching us, and now we're getting the hang of it.

 

My best advice from my ripe old veteran stage of 3 weeks is this...don't be afraid to touch things and move them around! I had the mind-set that I should just look and not touch...but you generally won't find it that way. I'm still fighting the urge to keep hands off...and that's why I spent nearly 40 minutes looking for a cache that was right in front of my face the whole time! Once I touched it and something that should have been stationary actually moved, I felt like a real *genius*!

 

Of course, always put things back into some semblance of order (I'm not encouraging 'environmental rape') and ALWAYS put the geocache back exactly where you got it (we've had experience with that one, too *grin*) but don't be afraid to get hands on! :laughing:

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