Brand new and totally lost

[thehodgesfamily]

My Sons and I tried to find some caches on Friday but had no luck. I know we were in the general area but we could not find anything. I have a Mio gps that works great driving but I had a hard time getting it to work when we were walking. We searched and searched but could not find anything. Is there any kind of tips or tricks that can help a newbie. BTW we were searching for a 1/1

[+coralteach]

My Sons and I tried to find some caches on Friday but had no luck. I know we were in the general area but we could not find anything. I have a Mio gps that works great driving but I had a hard time getting it to work when we were walking. We searched and searched but could not find anything. Is there any kind of tips or tricks that can help a newbie. BTW we were searching for a 1/1

 

I am a relative newbie myself, but I've learned a couple of things. 1. Look for things that look out of place...a pile of sticks, a rock, etc...2. If it is around a structure,(like a bench or railing), look all around, under, etc...lots of people use magnets.3. Look at ads for geocaches here on geocaching.com, or on e-bay. It is amazing what can be hidden as a cache. 4. Don't be afraid to post a DNF. I have and sometimes will get a hint that makes me go, oh, yeah. 4. And the most important, think, "If I were going to put a cache here and it's a micro, or small, or whatever, where would I put it?" You also have to remember that your GPS and theirs can be off, so zero in, but don't be afraid to search a much bigger area, like 20 feet out from the center, all the way around.

It's addicting though, once you start finding stuff.

 

Happy Caching!

[+The Blorenges]

Using a car GPS for geocaching is not ideal but some people manage to do it when they first start out. Have a read through this topic to see what others have to say about it:

 

Using a car GPS - Will it work?

 

MrsB

[GermanSailor]

that works great driving but I had a hard time getting it to work when we were walking.

Maybe there is a "lock on road" feature enabled. This can make off-road navigation nearly impossible.

 

What GPSr do you have?

 

GermanSailor

[+HookwayFamily]

Another tip would be to read previous logs, just in case more hints can be found if you get really stuck...

[+Prime Suspect]

And start out looking for something bigger than a micro. Save those for when you have a bit more experience.

[+kh54s10]

Try finding a place where there are several easy ones. Try one for a while then move on. Once you learn things to look for return to the dnfs.

I have been amazed how I could have missed some when returning for another try.

[+popokiiti]

We returned yesterday to a previous DNF and have no idea how we missed the medium sized well-cammoed L&L. Between us we have quite a few finds, but were over-thinking this one. Keep at it, and the cache will be revealed to you.

As far as your GPSr goes...I can't help. Unless it has a pedestrian mode? Good Luck anyway!

[+TnAMurphy99]

We returned yesterday to a previous DNF and have no idea how we missed the medium sized well-cammoed L&L. Between us we have quite a few finds, but were over-thinking this one. Keep at it, and the cache will be revealed to you.

As far as your GPSr goes...I can't help. Unless it has a pedestrian mode? Good Luck anyway!

 

I believe the car GPS's are more "general direction" where the hand held devices are more precise. So finding caches would be a bit harder with the car GPS's. Don't 'quote' me on that though, as I've only ever used a handheld for caching.

 

Where you're looking (urban vs rural caches) will make quite a difference when knowing what to look for. Try making your first ones 1/1 - 2/2 (in that range), and caches that are not micro's (those little buggers can give the most seasoned cacher a hard time, let alone someone who's just learning the game). Read the recent logs, a lot of them will mention something that you'll notice when you get there, helping you narrow down where to look. Once you get a good idea of the area the cache is in, look for 'geotrails' (pathways made by people walking the same path over and over), piles of rocks/sticks/leaves. Look for spots you would maybe place a small cache. A lot of cache placers will have hints, don't be ashamed to use them! They are there for a reason! Some hints are still fairly vague, where some will take you to the exact spot.

 

If you're still having problems finding the cache, I find it quite helpful to stop, take a few steps back, and just look at my surroundings. There's been many time's doing that that I've noticed something that I just wasn't seeing when looking 'close up'. And, if all else fails and you just can't find it, mark it as a DNF. It could be missing!

 

I'm a big fan of the caches placed in your local neighborhood parks, especially when caching with kids. They make for great 'cover', and when you're done finding the cache, you can take a few minutes to play too. I've found a ton of small parks that I never knew were there thanks to Geocaching. And the caches placed in them aren't too tough to find. On the nicer days, you may need to keep more of an eye out for 'muggles', but most of the time, they don't pay much attention to you, especially when you have kids with you.

 

Hope this and all the other 'pointers' posted in this thread help you! And good luck!

Edited March 21, 2010 by TnAMurphy99

[dandelion23]

Good Luck.

Edited March 21, 2010 by dandelion23

[+rambrush]

My Sons and I tried to find some caches on Friday but had no luck. I know we were in the general area but we could not find anything. I have a Mio gps that works great driving but I had a hard time getting it to work when we were walking. We searched and searched but could not find anything. Is there any kind of tips or tricks that can help a newbie. BTW we were searching for a 1/1

 

A 1/1 is supposed to be ADA compliant wheel chair accessible. Some cachers don't play fair though. This cache should be almost laying on the ground in plain sight no climbing or extensive hunting required.

Like posted before me look for obvious spots or find a local cacher to go with you to show some tips and tricks. To me the simple sometimes turns out to the worst ones to locate. As posted look at the size and go for the larger sizes as they have less hidey spots

[+coralteach]

See, I read this and learned more stuff. I went today and found a previously logged DNF. It was so easy...I was overthinking.

[The 2 Dogs]

Start slow, do some easy ones, and gradually wean your way into the hard ones. Good luck!

[+poohisgreat]

We used a car GPS our first couple days and had several DNF's. The inexperience and

the car GPS just wasn't getting us to GZ. But went back with a GPS and found all of them.

I believe a Car GPS, most of them just don't like going off road. As mentioned make sure

your doing bigger caches. After two days of caching we learned a lot. Read the forum, it's

a huge help and ....happy caching. It's very addicting.

[MommyM]

take a look at itouchmap.com you can plug in coordinates and get a pretty good closeup if there isn't too much tree coverage. That might help bridge the gap between your car and the cache.

[+Brooks Family of 3]

I'm new too. My first day out we went 0-5. Was really frustrated and almost gave up. We were right in the area and just couldn't make the find. But we went back the next day and found it right away. Once you make those first couple finds and learn how people place in your area, they will start appearing like magic.

 

Good luck!

[+Tobias & Petronella]

Brand new and totally lost is where most of us start. We have been caching a year and a half and still get totally lost from time to time. If I was to tell you how many very easy caches we almost gave up on you, wouldn't believe me. Everyone has DNFs from time to time. Our worst day was 5 out of 7 caches we DNF.

 

My advice (for what its worth), get a Premium membership, even if it's the $10 for three months. That way you can do Pocket Queries, which is a good way to search on-line for the caches you want to go after. You will want to search for 1.5/1.5 and easier, Regular size Traditional Caches. Then drop down to smalls after awhile. Stay away from Micro's for now, they can be evil.

 

Then before you head out do two things. 1. Read the logs from other cachers. Sometimes their log are filled with extra hints. 2. Use either the lower google map found on the cache page and click on "Satellite" or Google Earth. Zoom in and see where the cache might be. Only problem is tree cover and those maps are not always correct.

 

Go searching with other cachers if you can. Everyone has certain style for looking. I know I learned a lot from just watching.

 

And after you gave it a good search and still could not find it, write the cache owner. They might give out extra hints.

[hoosier guy]

Hi Buddy welcome to the maddness! I suggest you go down to the regional formus and see if there is an experienced cacher who you could shadow & get some experience. You may know someone already to go out with. Have a good one

 

Hoosier Guy

[texasebeth]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one! I thought I'd try geocaching with my 5 year old for some fun outdoor family time. We've looked for "pirate treasure" 3 times now with no success. They were all 1/1 and my iPhone 3G had us practically on top of the cache (within 2-8 feet)but we still couldn't find them. The caches were medium sized.

 

The 1st one it started raining so that may have been the problem. And the 1st one showed a log with a person finding it that morning! My son said that the "pirates were sneaky to hide the treasure so good".

 

I am going to read the logs again and file a DNF. There were lots of helpful ideas/suggestions in this thread. Thanks! I think I will be getting a GPS eventually too. My son had tons of fun and this is a great activity for him and me. We can even do it while traveling!

[+sky282]

My Sons and I tried to find some caches on Friday but had no luck. I know we were in the general area but we could not find anything. I have a Mio gps that works great driving but I had a hard time getting it to work when we were walking. We searched and searched but could not find anything. Is there any kind of tips or tricks that can help a newbie. BTW we were searching for a 1/1

 

We are new too. we have gone the past two weekends using a car gps (garmin nuvi) we were able to find one cache each weekend though only the regular caches, anyone who has tips for micros would love to hear them! were 1/2 the first weekend and 1/4 this weekend. The car gps may have an off road/pedestrian app that is a little better. My gps seems to consistently get me close to the area, but still having trouble finding the smaller caches. The caches we found were both inside a fallen tree.

 

good luck! happy hunting it is rather addicting!

[+Palujia]

Using a car GPS for geocaching is not ideal but some people manage to do it when they first start out. Have a read through this topic to see what others have to say about it:

 

Using a car GPS - Will it work?

 

MrsB

I have a Navigon Satnav for the car - It has a Co-Ordinate search engine but will only go to a 6 figure map ref - and not off road. So I start with 6 figure, and if it works. drive to the hit site - then lurch about in what is apparantly called a "drunken bee" search - so far so good !!

cheers

palujia