Anybody else as bad as me when first started?

[+TheSwissFamilyRobinsons]

Out of 8 caches searched for the last two weeks (my first two weeks), only 5 were found, and 3 were not. I am still having a blast, but feel pretty pathetic! (Oh, and did I mention these are all given a star and a half for difficulty??)

[+Walts Hunting]

I didn't do that bad but I am mostly in an urban area with larger containers. It can take awhile to get the cache eye for things. Look for something that seems a little out of place. Search twice the epe listed on your device. It will come.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

While not great, 62.5% isn't all that bad. It will improve with practice -- at least it should!

 

I see one find of yours is a micro. Were your DNFs micros? Probably best to practice on caches other than micros. Keep at it, your "geosense" is not well developed, yet.

Edited May 23, 2010 by Gitchee-Gummee

[+debaere]

Out of 8 caches searched for the last two weeks (my first two weeks), only 5 were found, and 3 were not. I am still having a blast, but feel pretty pathetic! (Oh, and did I mention these are all given a star and a half for difficulty??)

 

A lot depends on experience, but sometimes its just luck. The last time I went out I hunted 5, found 2. Time before that I got 4 out of 5.

[+Walkworthy & Wife]

Out of 8 caches searched for the last two weeks (my first two weeks), only 5 were found, and 3 were not. I am still having a blast, but feel pretty pathetic! (Oh, and did I mention these are all given a star and a half for difficulty??)

Just as debaere said, a lot of finding caches comes with experience in knowing what to look for. Some has to do with how well the Cache Owners (CO) GPS provides coordinates for the cache and how well your GPS takes you to the cache. With experience come wisdom.

[+team mx]

its like that for everyone and sometimes its just bad luck, with practise it does get better.... honest

[+ADTCacheur]

It could be that out of 8, 3 were stolen. Or it could be those pesky micros/nanos. I'm a newb, and I have found every small/medium/large cache I've hunted, but only a couple of the micros/nanos. You'll get better over time though.

[+DragonsWest]

I was quite stupid when it first came to navigating to caches. When it comes to the first time I encounter certain hides, also decidedly at a disadvantage.

 

With practice comes wisdom, Grasshopper.

[+El Diablo]

When I first started 9 years ago it was really pathetic how I did. The first cache I went after was with a borrowed GPS that was older than dirt. That thing couldn't hold a sat lock in the middle of a Kansas wheat field, much less in the woods. My wife and I tore up an acre of woods before we found the cache. As you go along experience will play a major role on your sucess. So far you are doing well.

 

El Diablo

[+AuntieWeasel]

I did way above the averages at first. I think I found my first twenty. Then I got three DNF's in a row, which was such a shock to my system after such a great start, I sat down on a rock and considered quitting the game.

 

My DNF rate leveled out at about 10%, though I found more when I was a noob out of sheer, bloody-minded refusal to give up. Now I'll give up cheerfully the moment I get bored.

 

So many caches, so little time.

[MagickalElves]

My DNFs have been micros - I spent nearly an hour looking for one (said to be nealrly a nano) in some woods yesterday but came away empty handed. Larger caches are much easier (and more fun) to find.

[+TheSwissFamilyRobinsons]

Thanks everyone for their replys - I got 3 out of 4 today! Looooving this game!

[+Coldgears]

One mistake that I always made in the beginning is to not expand my search. I would stick strictly to a few feet from the coords! While this works perfectly for most urban caches, many times in the woods this is not so. Most people's GPS aren't to the exact inch! I never noticed this until one time I was looking for a micro... The GPS coords were on top of the street in the parking lot. I looked all over the street... Then I emailed cache owner with a picture of the coords being in the middle of the road,(google maps) and he told me to expand your search and check the fence... It was about 20 feet away... But guess what? It was there... Ever since then I expanded my search and my DNF rate went down... ALOT!

[+humboldt flier]

Out of 8 caches searched for the last two weeks (my first two weeks), only 5 were found, and 3 were not. I am still having a blast, but feel pretty pathetic! (Oh, and did I mention these are all given a star and a half for difficulty??)

That is better than Ty Cobb's average.

[+starfishsaving]

In the beginning, I found almost all of them. My GPSr was taking me directly to them every time despite reading an EPE of around 30ft most of the time. Then something strange happened... it started acting like a GPSr with a 30ft EPE. I started logging (or not logging) DNFs left and right. Then as I started finding more caches around 20 ft from the coords it occurred to me to relax and stop fixating on my GPS. Now I use it to zero in on an area, usually walking in the right direction until I get to a spot where it starts bouncing all over the place, then I PUT IT AWAY and start canvassing the general area. My finds have substantially increased since then.

 

I've only been caching since December, so I'm still pretty new, too

[+JJball]

You are actually doing very well so far!

 

Sometimes if I'm having a bad day and I want to "ensure" a find (or as close as I can get to ensuring that, because that is really impossible), I'll check and make sure the caches I'm going for have been found in the last week, 2 weeks, month or whatever, and stick to larger caches with easier ratings. If I'm in the mood for a challenge, I'll go for caches that haven't been found in awhile (or have some DNFs piled up), and/or caches with tougher difficulty ratings

Edited May 24, 2010 by JJball

[+ihorn]

Right now I am finding probably 4 out of 5. I can DNF the same cache multiple times and not care. I dont think its about numbers, but more the fun you will have while in the hunt. I have found from nano to ammo can now.

[+power69]

Out of 8 caches searched for the last two weeks (my first two weeks), only 5 were found, and 3 were not. I am still having a blast, but feel pretty pathetic! (Oh, and did I mention these are all given a star and a half for difficulty??)

when you're brought to a lamp post, did you know the bases lift?

[+briansnat]

I've been doing this for going on 9 years and my find rate is about 75 percent, so 62 percent in your first week isn't bad. Now if you are still at 62 percent in a year, I'll be happy to hand my "World's Worst Geocacher" title over to you.

[+ngrrfan]

When I first started caching, I couldn't find an ammo can on a post in the middle of a football field.

Now I can find the post.

 

I wondered what I was missing as my caching partners could walk up to GZ and spot it within a few minutes. Now I am more aware of what to look for, how things are "hidden in plain sight", and how to spot geotrails. It's called experience, and yes I still get stumped by some hides.

[+rob3k]

I went 0 for 2 on my first day, including a guard rail hide. Both of the DNFs were from the same CO and he e-mailed me encouragement and a give away hint for the guard rail one.

Edited May 24, 2010 by rob3k