How to Find a Cache

[+U_Dac]

Newbie here...

So, I download coordinates, go to the location and walk in the direction where my GPSr says that I'm "O ft from destination". So far, I have found three caches this way. I looked for a few more but can't find the exact location where I get the 0 feet reading. Sometimes, when I stand in a spot and turn around in the same spot, I get one reading saying I'm 0 feet and another saying I'm 5 ft away! Is it my GPSr, the connection, the weather, the coordinates or me!?

[Motorcycle_Mama]

Recreational grade GPS units typically have an accuracy of 20 - 30 feet. Don't expect your GPS unit to take you to the exact spot. Remember that the hider's GPS unit has the same margin of error.

 

Use your GPS unit to get you to the general area and then use your senses to search around. Look for hiding places, things out of place, pile of sticks or rocks and things like that.

[+Headhardhat]

You will have to remember that your GPS can be up to 30 or so feet off at any given time. That and the person who hid the geocache could be 30 or so feet of as well. So don't take ground zero completely to heart.

 

When you get close put the GPS away and start a lookin.

 

May I also suggest you check out our GeoSnippits Videos which gives you a ton of suggestions and examples for what to look for while geocaching.

 

Here is one of the videos which is part one of our Introduction to GeoCaching series. It has been used on several corporate websites including for the Find Me geocaching based movie as well.

 

You can find it here:

 

You can see all the GeoSnippits videos (not including the ones on Michigan Magazine TV) here:

http://www.geosnippits.com

 

Hope it helps,

 

-HHH

[+U_Dac]

Thank you for the advice. I must admit that it's sometimes discouraging and I wonder how others can already reach their 1000th find.

[Motorcycle_Mama]

When you are first starting out, here are some tips to make your searches more successful.

 

1. Start with only Traditional Caches.

2. Start with caches that are difficulty and terrain rated at 2.0 or lower.

3. Start with caches are are Regular and Large sized.

4. Use you GPS unit to get to the general location and then use your senses as noted above.

5. Think like a hider.

6. Don't get discouraged. If you can't find a particular cache after a reasonable amount of searching, skip it and go on to another one.

7. HAVE FUN! Once you find a few, you will be a pro in no time.

 

[+JIMIP]

You just gotta look, it's really that simple actually. Your unit wether it is a basic cheap thing or an expensive oine with all the bells and whistles will get you in the vicinity. You will sometimes get right on with any GPSR but you still have to look for the cache. Look around for tracks or telltale signs that an area is dusturbed. Sometimes a cache will be buried under rocks or other debris and you can see those. When you start logging finds for smaller caches you will pretty much be able to look in an area and get an idea where one might be just by the hider. Most of all don't be discouraged, it does get easier but really if it was too easy what would be the point right??.

[+Curioddity]

Thank you for the advice. I must admit that it's sometimes discouraging and I wonder how others can already reach their 1000th find.

Well I'm at 1126 now and here's how I did it:

 

I started out with more DNFs than finds. At that time I didn't even know enough to log them. At about 20 caches I went to one of the local geocacher gatherings listed in the weekly geocaching.com newsletter and made arrangements to go caching with some of the experienced cachers. I was still so new that I didn't know I could log an event either.

 

Anyway, the first lesson I learned from the first experienced cacher I went out with was to put the GPSr away once I was reasonably confident that I was near GZ and use my eyes, hands, and imagination (senses) to search for the cache and from that point on, my find to DNF ratio began to improve dramatically.

 

And then it was just a matter of learning about the devious minds of geocachers. Different styles of hides became a lot easier to find as I found the first one and became familiar with the style. I even began to see patterns in the habits of individual cachers like what kind of cache container they favored and how accurate their coordinates are. Before long I was finding most of the caches I searched for and was able to go back and easily find most of the DNFs from before.

 

And somewhere along the way I began thinking like a geocacher. I do the bulk of my caching on a bicycle and these days it's not at all uncommon for me to know where I'll find the cache before the wheels stop turning. In fact, it's too easy as often as not.

 

But like all new activities, this took some time. I didn't really start to get it until I hit the 100+ mark and I didn't start really thinking like a cacher until I'd found several hundred. Time-wise I've actually been on a fast-track, but that's mostly because I live in a cache-saturated area.

 

The bottom line is you can't expect to be good at caching right away, but what kind of activity can you be good at right away? Geocaching is a hobby which benefits from a certain amount of familiarity and familiarity takes time to acquire. The biggest trick is don't get discouraged. Stick with it and the familiarity will come and before long you'll be one of the experienced cachers too.

 

Of all the things I covered in my post, I think the two most important are:

• Sign up for the Geocaching.com newsletter and attend some local caching events if you can. They're a great place to meet other cachers and find a mentor or two who can help you learn how to search.
  
• Put the GPSr away when you get to GZ. It can't find the cache for you. It can only lead you to where you need to start searching and it becomes a distraction after that.
  

Good luck and may you find your geosense quickly.

 

Pete

Edited November 9, 2009 by Curioddity

[+Jake340]

Thank you for the advice. I must admit that it's sometimes discouraging and I wonder how others can already reach their 1000th find.

 

I felt the same way when I started but have realized the found count adds up quickly. I used to follow my GPS to the exact spot as you but now instead, I get to the general location (like others have said) and look around and observe everything. If you are constantly looking at your gps screen and worrying about what it says then you could walk right past the Cache and your friend will find it instead (has happened to me before). SO Pick your head up and LOOK around.

[+Curioddity]

I forgot another important part of the learning process in my last post:

 

Every time you find a cache, take a careful look at the hide and make a mental note of everything about it which might have given it away. Not just the things which drew your attention to it, but everything else that might have given away too. Maybe it's a wire hanger or some monofiliment fishing line or an unusual amount of fingerprints where they don't make any sense. Or maybe it will be an otherwise unexplainable hole in a bush or path through the groundcover... The list goes on and on and these things are as important for you to learn how to recognize as spotting an actual cache is.

 

Pete

[+U_Dac]

What a thorough answer! Thank you for taking the time to reply and for the encouragement.

[+nilling]

I keep on telling my daughter to stop looking at her GPSr and to look with her eyes once she gets within 10 feet. I also find it useful to approach the GZ from another direction to minimize the +/-20 foot accuracy.

[+smichel48]

Here is one of the videos which is part one of our Introduction to GeoCaching series. It has been used on several corporate websites including for the Find Me geocaching based movie as well.

 

You can find it here:

 

You can see all the GeoSnippits videos (not including the ones on Michigan Magazine TV) here:

http://www.geosnippits.com

 

Hope it helps,

 

-HHH

After watching your videos last night and realizing how clever some people hide their caches, I went out again today to look for a DNF that I've searched for 2x and I FOUND IT!! Thanks for the great video help for newbies!

Edited November 11, 2009 by smichel48

[tac2front]

Thank you for the advice. I must admit that it's sometimes discouraging and I wonder how others can already reach their 1000th find.

 

Hi There. I am in the same exact boat. A couple of weeks ago I was cleaning out my garage when I found my old Garmin Etrex Legend. It is a very old model (circa 2004)?. I originally purchased this for in-car navigation - but it failed miserably compared to what GPS units can do these days. Anyway in the process of figuring out how to make it work "better" (which I did via a firmware download) I stumbled upon a ton of information including this new thing called geocaching. So last week I decided to plug in some coordinates and go for a hike. I followed the arrows on the GPS, got really close (within 30 seconds of destination) but the terrain was impassable. So I gave up and looked up the coordinates on Google map when I got home. Turns out the area where the GPS lead me to was no where near the coordinates on Google. I am still not sure if its equipment failure or user error.

[+JakeInPA]

I'll add my 2 cents real quick...

 

My daughter (age 9) and I have been caching for a few months (not much lately because of busy schedules and swine flu).

 

We have 43 finds and 2-3 DNF's. one or two of those DNF's we found out were due to stolen caches. How'd we manage that? Well, for the most part, we followed everyone's advice here. I asked these same questions before we started and we did some research and watched some of headhardhat's videos before we ventured out.

 

We did mostly low difficulty caches up until our more recent finds. Once you get the hang of it or at least find some where the coordinates just aren't quite right, you'll find it gets a little easier.

 

The two furtherest from GZ that we found were about 70 and 80ft from the posted coordinates. Just remember as everyone else has said, you'll rarely find the caches at "0 feet". Personally, my GPS rarely reads "0 feet" at our finds.

[tac2front]

I'll add my 2 cents real quick...

 

My daughter (age 9) and I have been caching for a few months (not much lately because of busy schedules and swine flu).

 

We have 43 finds and 2-3 DNF's. one or two of those DNF's we found out were due to stolen caches. How'd we manage that? Well, for the most part, we followed everyone's advice here. I asked these same questions before we started and we did some research and watched some of headhardhat's videos before we ventured out.

 

We did mostly low difficulty caches up until our more recent finds. Once you get the hang of it or at least find some where the coordinates just aren't quite right, you'll find it gets a little easier.

 

The two furtherest from GZ that we found were about 70 and 80ft from the posted coordinates. Just remember as everyone else has said, you'll rarely find the caches at "0 feet". Personally, my GPS rarely reads "0 feet" at our finds.

 

Hi there. As an inexperienced newbie to geocaching, I am starting to think that a GPS unit is not critical to the sport. Assuming the margin of error on a handheld is about 50 feet, wouldnt it be just as accurate (or more so) to print out a google map with the coordinates on the map and just go hunting with that alone (and maybe a compass)? I make this comment based on my usage of an old unreliable Etrex Legend (no signal under trees, no signal in pocket, unit tends to turn itself off it bumped too hard, etc).

[Andronicus]

Always worth mentioning that you need to make sure that you GPSr is set to the WGS84 Datum (or the NAD83 is virtualy the same), and not the NAD27 Datum. If your's is set to NAD27, you are unlikely to find any caches no matter how hard you look. You will likely be off by 70-130 metres

[hoyshnin]

Newbie here...

So, I download coordinates, go to the location and walk in the direction where my GPSr says that I'm "O ft from destination". So far, I have found three caches this way. I looked for a few more but can't find the exact location where I get the 0 feet reading. Sometimes, when I stand in a spot and turn around in the same spot, I get one reading saying I'm 0 feet and another saying I'm 5 ft away! Is it my GPSr, the connection, the weather, the coordinates or me!?

 

What kind of gpsr are you using? Maybe we could give you some tips related to that.

[+U_Dac]

 

What kind of gpsr are you using? Maybe we could give you some tips related to that.

 

Garmin eTrex Venture HC

[+ras_oscar]

the GPS really doesn't matter that much.y first 450 or so with a auto unit. long as yoou can punch in coordinates and track a position off road the unit will get you close enough to let yiojur geosense kick in.