How do you actually find caches?

[Matekki]

As stupid as this may look alike, I have a problem.

 

Well... I can't find caches even I try hard. Feeling suspicious and can't find cache at all. I've tried like 15 and found only 4 of them. How do you start looking for caches?

 

Otherwise this geocaching is just so awesome.

 

Matec

[+9Key]

Start out with really easy ones - 1 star difficulty or so. Stay away from micros.

 

Read the "Getting Started" topics at the top of this forum - lots of great info for beginners.

 

What type of GPS do you have?

[+briansnat]

I agree with 9Key, stick with the easy ones and regular sized, no micros. Also don't depend too much on your GPS. It gets you in the area but doesn't always bring you right to the cache. Between the inherent inaccuracy of your unit and the hiders unit the cache could be 40, 50 or more feet from where your GPS says it should be.

Most novices tend to focus right where their GPS points, but you should expand your search area pay more attention to the kinds of places in the general area where you would hide something if you were hiding something there.

[+dexter-cacher]

Remember the GPSr only gets you to the general area of the cache...after that you need to search hard... the smaller the cache container and the more devious the cache hiders mind, the more difficult it will be... Stick to regular size containers in areas that are easily accessible but not swamped with people... If need be, approach the site from a couple of different angles and note where your GPSr points in order to bracket the area... Now pretend you are hiding something in the area and check those spots... Good luck and as previous posters have explained, don't begin this sport by looking to find nanos and micros right from the start... They can be frustrating...

 

cache on my friend, cache on

 

dexter-cacher

[+Crafty Turtle]

Urban caches are good to begin with (1 or 2 star) because you immediately eliminate so much of the 40 foot radius area, because of buildings, flat sidewalk, roadway, etc. No cache can hide there. This leaves you with the wall, the gutter, and the street furniture (postbox, lamp post, fire hydrant)

 

Also use Google earth to verify the location - even if it's in a park, you'll know it's that clump of trees, not another one. Once you get out on the ground, you GPS can give you a greater search area that what Google earth did, so you want to rely on Google earth to narrow your search area.

This is especially true in urban areas, because there are a lot of different features in a small area. - unlike wilderness caches where GZ is blanketed in trees or rocks, and you can't distinguish one from the next.

[+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!!

[WVLTcannoneers]

yes and if you want to get better and have fun go with someone that has gone many times so they can help you .team up no shame in teams or partners if you ever get near albany ny and want to go ill go and help not find i will coach but make you get them .

[tav]

hey mat well i'm a new commer also and i'm working with no gps ( it's in the mail as we speak) , i'm looking for very ezy caches i did find a few, like today i looked for one and when i got there the hint said a clump of trees , i started looking for the obvious and with in 2 mins i found it.

 

now theres the micros (small ones) it took me two trys to find this one. i pick the ones in my area that i know that area by heart but the big stuff i'm gonna have to wait for my gps.

[Contra1971]

i jumped in to micros at the start, and found them rather easy to find, but i have always been pretty good at this kinda stuff, way before geocaching was born, and i found the GPSr i used was not very good at pointing me to the spot, as a matter of fact it told me to go about 35: in the wrong direction, so i bought a unit that was more suited to the trails, an older Meridian Gold, it is great!, things i had to log DNF before are easily found with this unit, almost down to the foot!, but the key for me is to look for something that seems to be out of place, or a good spot that I would hide a cache in, seems to work well for me

[+JIMIP]

Not finding caches should not be discouraging it should be taken as a challenge. I had a hard time initially when I started in May of this year but I have found 86 caches since then. If I run across a prticularly difficult find as I said I see it as a challenge and if I have to leave I will keep that one in my Garmin and keep popping back by till I can find it. One good way to find caches is to get to know the places and types of containers that specific people in your area use. I know here a popular hide is a Hide-A-Key in a guardrail and if I come to an area knowing there is a micro the first thing I am going to do is search teh guardrails especially if it is by someone I know likes to use that. One other sort of unfortunate tell is alot of outdoor caches have pretty beat down areas going to them to the point of having actual trails leading right up to them. If you have any skills in identifying them you can find them pretty easily. Lastly, I know quite a few outdoor caches here are pretty easy to spot as they are buried under debris of some kind or another and if you see rocks that are out of place or sticks piled up in a weird way that look like they don't belong you got your hide.

 

Anyway the biggest thing is to DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED!!! I said it before but it bears repeating if you could just walk up and find all of the hides you are looking for where would be the challenge in that.

[+humboldt flier]

Not finding caches should not be discouraging it should be taken as a challenge. I had a hard time initially when I started in May of this year but I have found 86 caches since then. If I run across a prticularly difficult find as I said I see it as a challenge and if I have to leave I will keep that one in my Garmin and keep popping back by till I can find it. One good way to find caches is to get to know the places and types of containers that specific people in your area use. I know here a popular hide is a Hide-A-Key in a guardrail and if I come to an area knowing there is a micro the first thing I am going to do is search teh guardrails especially if it is by someone I know likes to use that. One other sort of unfortunate tell is alot of outdoor caches have pretty beat down areas going to them to the point of having actual trails leading right up to them. If you have any skills in identifying them you can find them pretty easily. Lastly, I know quite a few outdoor caches here are pretty easy to spot as they are buried under debris of some kind or another and if you see rocks that are out of place or sticks piled up in a weird way that look like they don't belong you got your hide.

 

Anyway the biggest thing is to DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED!!! I said it before but it bears repeating if you could just walk up and find all of the hides you are looking for where would be the challenge in that.

Try this as well, ... " if I were a cache where would I hide "...

[zilla]

Buy a good compass.. I take a bearing on the cache from say 100 yards out and look for what is on that line.. If I get close and the GPS keeps spinning, I expand my search.. Look for things that are out of place like rocks in front of a hole, or something that doesn't look natural..