UGH! So frustrated!

[PiKappMan]

Ok so I started doing this last night. I went to 5-10 different locations and could not find any. I felt a little better today. Found 4 out of 8 but still feel like something is wrong. What can I do to figure this out? Any tips at all?

[+burtsbodgers]

Hi

to start with go for easy caches as this will help you get the hang of things, look for 1 terrain & 1 Difficulty.

also use hints and clue to start with.

if necesary use google earth to give you a good view prior to going.

what sort of device are you using and what is your location like?

urban hides are often harder to find, because of camoflage but this can be the same in the woods.

 

If you look at the caches you have found, they have been the easier ones and this is the way to go.

the thing to bare in mind is that although you have the co-ords for the hide they are only as accurate as your and the hiders GPSrs are and this can lead to a large search area sometimes as much as 50' so this can make some hides harder.

but keep going sometimes the harder the search the more rewarding the find and the greater sense of satisfaction.

[+ChannelFadge]

My advice is dont worry too much about ther DNF's. If the caches were in a nice area, just enjoy the journey and look forward to the opportunity to visit again and find them.

With 15 finds under my belt im still really new and not very good at finding caches. I log a LOT of DNF's. I just see it as part of the fun. If I find them or not, im out of the house having fun.

[+off-camber]

DNFs can be frustrating....

 

As stated go for the easy ones...look at the previous logs and see when it was found last and any hints someone else may have left. If you see a lot of DNFs logged on a particular cache, leave till you get some more experience.

Enjoy the journey....its not about the numbers its about having fun.

[hoyshnin]

I'd echo the "avoid urban hides" advice. Urban hides are camoed well (because there are so many muggles around) and many times the gps reception is horrible because of surrounding buildings. I would start by looking in parks or other open areas. Also, yes, try to look for difficulty ratings of less than 2 and try to avoid micros and look for bigger caches. Eventually your geo-senses will improve and caches will be easier to find.

[+PatrickInChicago]

Ok so I started doing this last night. I went to 5-10 different locations and could not find any. I felt a little better today. Found 4 out of 8 but still feel like something is wrong. What can I do to figure this out? Any tips at all?

 

I personally hate DNFs - for a number of reasons - so I understand your frustration. It is amazing what a difference a little experience makes. Let me make a couple of suggestions:

 

- The previous comments are right about picking easy caches. That will help.

- They are also right about Google Earth. That will tell you approximately where the cache is, and whether it is in the woods or grass or near a parking lot. Then you can be prepared for the terrain before you go.

 

- Consider finding an experienced cacher in your local area. An easy way to do that is to look up your local Geocaching club and get in contact with them. If you don't have a club nearby, look at the cache owners for the caches in your area. Look them up on the geocaching.com website, and send them an email through the site asking if anyone is interested in taking a beginner around and showing them the ropes. You'll pick up on some of the tricks in no time.

 

- Examine the equipment that you are using, and adjust your expectations. If you are using an iPhone or an older GPSr you may not be getting a great signal. When the cache is under a canopy of leaves that makes a big difference, as the coords that you have will jump all over the place. Going with someone else that can show you how to handle that will help, but using Google Earth or even Google Maps with the aerials turned on will lead you to caches in the open until you get the hang of it.

 

- Take some kids. If you don't have any, take along some nieces and nephews, or a friend with kids, especially ones around grade-school age. Once they get the idea of what they're looking for they're like little geocache hunting dogs. The hardest part will be getting them to leave the cache alone until you can get there and see the placement.

 

Hope this helps. Don't give up... just think about the physical and mental health benefits of getting outdoors and solving puzzles until your skills improve. Then you'll be well and truly addicted.

[+StarBrand]

Here are some general hints:

 

Look for caches with a difficulty of 2 or less for your fist few caches. Stick with regular sized caches for your first few. Micros can be quite hard to find sometimes. Stick to areas you are familiar with. Look for anything out of place or unusual. Look for unusual piles of sticks, grass, leaves, rocks, sand, etc. Feel where you cannot look. Think vertical, not all caches are on the ground. Look up or at eye level. Look for traces of previous searches to zero in on the spot. Think like the hider - where would you put a container in this location? Look for things too new, too old, too perfect, not like the others, too many, too few. Change your perspective - a shift in lighting can sometimes reveal a cache. Keep in mind that many micros are magnetic or attached to something (via string, wire etc). Slowly expand your search area to about 40 feet from where your GPS says ground zero is. Bring garden gloves and a flashlight - they help! Be prepared to not find the cache more often then you think.

 

Most of all - have fun!!

[+PatrickInChicago]

Here are some general hints:

 

Look for caches with a difficulty of 2 or less for your fist few caches. Stick with regular sized caches for your first few. Micros can be quite hard to find sometimes. Stick to areas you are familiar with. Look for anything out of place or unusual. Look for unusual piles of sticks, grass, leaves, rocks, sand, etc. Feel where you cannot look. Think vertical, not all caches are on the ground. Look up or at eye level. Look for traces of previous searches to zero in on the spot. Think like the hider - where would you put a container in this location? Look for things too new, too old, too perfect, not like the others, too many, too few. Change your perspective - a shift in lighting can sometimes reveal a cache. Keep in mind that many micros are magnetic or attached to something (via string, wire etc). Slowly expand your search area to about 40 feet from where your GPS says ground zero is. Bring garden gloves and a flashlight - they help! Be prepared to not find the cache more often then you think.

 

Most of all - have fun!!

 

These are GREAT suggestions! Allow me to add one more... in many areas when you arrive there are one or more predominant features. That could mean a bench or sign, a large fallen tree, whatever. But when you get there and look around figure out where your eyes are first attracted to. Then start your searches with that/those predominant features, because often the cache will be there somewhere.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Here are some general hints:

 

Look for caches with a difficulty of 2 or less for your fist few caches. Stick with regular sized caches for your first few. Micros can be quite hard to find sometimes. Stick to areas you are familiar with. Look for anything out of place or unusual. Look for unusual piles of sticks, grass, leaves, rocks, sand, etc. Feel where you cannot look. Think vertical, not all caches are on the ground. Look up or at eye level. Look for traces of previous searches to zero in on the spot. Think like the hider - where would you put a container in this location? Look for things too new, too old, too perfect, not like the others, too many, too few. Change your perspective - a shift in lighting can sometimes reveal a cache. Keep in mind that many micros are magnetic or attached to something (via string, wire etc). Slowly expand your search area to about 40 feet from where your GPS says ground zero is. Bring garden gloves and a flashlight - they help! Be prepared to not find the cache more often then you think.

 

Most of all - have fun!!

 

These are GREAT suggestions! Allow me to add one more... in many areas when you arrive there are one or more predominant features. That could mean a bench or sign, a large fallen tree, whatever. But when you get there and look around figure out where your eyes are first attracted to. Then start your searches with that/those predominant features, because often the cache will be there somewhere.

 

A couple of other things.

 

Don't rely on your GPS to take you right to the cache. Once you get to the general area (could be as much as 100' away or more, start looking for features that PatrickInChicago. Ask yourself, "If I were to hide a cache here, where would I put it?" Of course, some hiders will intentionally *not* put it in the most obvious spot to make it more of a challenge.

 

Learn how to estimate distances. If you're walking down a trail and your GPS tells you that the waypoint (notice that I didn't say geocache) is off to the right, about 90' away, estimate 90 feet and head and look for features where the cache may be hidden. Once you gain experience, and begin to recognize features where someone is most likely going to hide a cache, you'll be surprised at how far away you'll be sometimes and identify where the cache is hidden.

 

Read the cache page thoroughly. There is a lot of information there that can help you find the cache. The cache title might not make sense until you get to the general area but sometimes it's a total giveaway as to where the cache might be hidden. Similarly the cache description and the hint might tell you exactly where to look or at least narrow down the possibilities. Although it's generally not condoned by cache owners a reading of previous logs can often provide spoilers (especially when there are photos included).

 

Less obvious are the cache size and the difficulty/terrain ratings. Granted, they are not always completely accurate, but if you've been walking down a flat trail and the terrain rating is a 3 or higher, you may be climbing up/down a steep hill or up a tree to find the cache. Likewise, if the terrain is rated a 2 or less you're probably don't need to climb up/down a steep hill to find it. You can use the difficulty and cache size indicators to eliminate possible hiding spots as well. If the cache is rated as "regular" size, you don't need to poke into every little nook and cranny you might find.

[+MrsShock]

The DNFs are annoy for sure. It is fun to be able to go back after more experience and find them. I just knocked two off of my DNF list today. They were low rated ones, I was just missing them. But like other people have said, look at all the info on the cache page and the hints and previous logs. Once you have found more, you will learn more and more tricks. Welcome to geocaching. :-)

[+SilentWolf]

So far the biggest "help" for me has been to think "Where would I hide something in this area.." When you get to ground zero look around and think where you would hide something if it were you. As has been mentioned, just cause your GPS says you're on the right spot, you could be off where the cache is hidden, since there is a margin of error coming from your GPS as well as the GPS of the person that hid it. I found one just the other day that was 50+ feet from where my GPS had me zero'd.

[aniyn]

The other thing to keep in mind is that the first 10-15 are the hardest. After that it does get easier!

[+Curioddity]

You'll hear people in these forums refer to a "geosense" which is basically a result of experience. I think of it as a mental reference library and each style of hide is a book and every page in the books is a variation of the hide technique.

 

The shelves in that library are pretty much empty when you first start geocaching and the only way you can populate the shelves is by finding caches. It's hard at first, but it gets easier as your library grows. The trick is to consider your early days of geocaching as a learning experience and NOT get frustrated. Just put the DNFs on your "I'll be back" list and move on. Soon enough, you'll be able to return to the caches you couldn't find and grab them right away because you know where to look.

 

Just remember that it's OK to not be good at something new, and geocaching is no different. It's really not much different than riding a bicycle or rollerskating: You're going to suck at it in the beginning, but if you stick with it, it will become second-nature soon enough. The trick is to dwell on your successes instead of your failures.

 

And just remember: No GPSr has ever found a cache. A GPSr can only lead you to where you should start searching, and it becomes a distraction after that.

 

Pete