Best GeoTips

[+TeamMJ2]

As a new geocacher myself, I would like to know what some of the best pieces of advice or tips to finding caches you've picked up along the way are? If this topic is already been brought up somewhere, I didn't see it and apologize.

[+BCNorwich]

Hello There,

 

The main thing is to have fun, and if things do go wrong try not to get to upset.

 

Regards

Bernard

[+Minimike2]

Don't limit the search to ground level.

[+briansnat]

Don't limit the search to ground level.

 

Or the specific spot your GPS is pointing. The cache could be 40,50 or more feet from where your GPS says it is. Our units are far from perfectly accurate.

 

Also, mark the location of your car if you are entering the woods, swamp or other off the road areas.

[NordicMan]

It's best to stick with "easy caches" when starting out, pick ones with 1/1 difficulty & terrain ratings or at least no higher than 2/2 when starting out.

 

Also starting with larger sized containers will improve your success odds, as well as making the find more enjoyable! Micros and nanos are TINY!! and contain (usually) nothing but a little bit of paper for you to sign on. Larger caches usually contain swag!! Ok sure it's usually just trinkets like Hotwheel cars, key fobs, and "Mc Toys" but it's still fun to sift through the stuff!

 

One more helpful tip is to review the logs of the previous finders they can often include useful tips, and at the same time you should check how old the most recent log entry is. If a cache has been found recently then it's likely in good shape and still there!

 

Good luck & have fun

[+michigansnorkelers]

Mark your car.

 

Mark your car.

 

Mark your car.

 

Oh, and if you have it, turn on tracking before you leave the parking lot. If you don't have tracking, mark the trail intersections you cross. And finally, mark where you leave the trail. It's amazing how easy it is to walk 100 feet off the trail, walk in circles until you find the cache, and then not be able to find the trail again!

 

On one of my earliest cache hunts, it began to rain as the sun was setting. After a long walk along what I was sure were the right trails, I came to the wrong parking lot! I'd rather not talk about the next hour.

[+The Blorenges]

When you find a trackable item write the tracking number down somewhere.

 

A common newbie error is to pick up a trackable, admire it, pop it into their bag then drop it into another cache a couple of hours later. Then when they get home to do their logs they realise that they can't move that trackable along because they haven't got the vital tracking number...

 

MrsB

[+Team MacKenzie]

When you find a trackable item write the tracking number down somewhere.

 

A common newbie error is to pick up a trackable, admire it, pop it into their bag then drop it into another cache a couple of hours later. Then when they get home to do their logs they realise that they can't move that trackable along because they haven't got the vital tracking number...

 

MrsB

 

Hey, it doesn't take a newbie to do that one.... Three years of caching and one can still occasionally do it. I ended up having to contact the cacher who dropped it in the first cache to get them to dig up the right tracking code for me. The geocoin owner had been posted to that sandy area where they fight a lot and I didn't figure he'd taken the codes with him....

 

My advice, other than what's already been mentioned...take a look at some of the websites that sell caches to get an idea of what you will be hunting for out there.

 

Oh, and if you possibly can, go caching with someone more experienced a few times. Having a mentor can make all the difference in getting a good start in the hobby/sport or not!

Edited July 10, 2010 by Team MacKenzie

[+niraD]

In addition to what others have said...

 

Always carry pens with you. I always carry a Sharpie (ultra-fine) and a Fisher Space Pen (actually, a Bic pen body with a Fisher Space Pen refill, but you get the idea). They can write on anything.

 

A digital camera is very useful for keeping records. Pick up a TB? Take a photo of the TB tag. (Just don't post that photo online.) See something interesting that you want to mention in your log? Take a photo of it. My phone camera geotags the photos, so I can even figure out which cache I was at when I took a photo. And I even take a few photos that are worth posting in my online logs.

 

Go to a local event. It's a great way to meet local geocachers, find out more about local hide styles, find out about local group hikes, etc.

[hoosier guy]

Share it with your family.

[+cachecrashers4]

PB4UGO

[+Chokecherry]

Lessons learned the hard way:

 

1. Mark your car (as been said numerous times). Even today didn't do. Was 100 feet away from the trail in the woods circling to find a cache and suddenly it all looked the same.

 

2. Put toilet paper in your car. Note book paper does not make for good toilet paper and not all outhouses are stocked. Also bring something to hold your outhouse door shut with. Not all outhouses have doors that shut well or lock.

 

3. Get a bag and fill it with stuff you will need.

 

4. Start by looking for caches in areas you're familiar with. I'm familiar with the woods. I'll notice something not quite right there. I'm not familiar with urban environments. It takes me forever to find stuff there. Then find caches that are easy on the difficulty rating.

 

5. Have fun. If it's making you mad walk away and save it for another day. Your brain won't work any better when it's frustrated versus when it's relaxed and having fun.

 

6. Laugh. And take pictures of the cool stuff you'll see.

[Pup Patrol]

Read the cache page first, completely.

 

Be sure you know if it's a multi or a puzzle or something a bit out of the ordinary before heading off to search for it.

 

Read the previous finders' logs....at least the last 5, but preferably more than those. The previous history can be enlightening as to tips about parking, about how tricky the find is, etc. If the last 5 logs are DNF's, then it might or might not be worth the effort to search for it.

 

Start off with difficulty/terrain rated caches of 1/1, and caches that are "small" or larger.

 

Check to see if the cache has photos in its Gallery...I've decided to hunt for caches based solely on the photos from other folks.

 

Mark your vehicle's waypoint before heading off....that just can't be stressed enough.

 

Always, always, always carry your own writing utensil(s).

 

Even if you are going "paperless".... Read the cache page first, completely.

Edited July 11, 2010 by Pup Patrol

[Pup Patrol]

Also...

 

if you are retrieving a travel bug or coin, please read the traveller's page to see if it has a mission before moving it on.

 

if you aren't going to retrieve it, then please post a "discover" note for the traveller. That lets the owner know that their TB or coin is still there.

[+Chokecherry]

I would probably suggest not holding on to a traveling item too long if you can't meet the mission. There's a cache near my house that gets a lot of traffic that I put those in.

 

I grabbed a coin this weekend I couldn't help on it's way (which I discovered after returning home because it had none of that info on it in the field). Into a nearby cache it went for the next person to find.

[+hukilaulau]

I'm surprised nobody has said this yet:

Mark your car! Even if it's "only --- feet thataway."

If your initial search doesn't reveal the cache, stop. Sit down. Look around and enjoy the scenery. Notice how in nature everything blends together... Oh! Except that! There ya go...

[+AuntieWeasel]

If the GPS is pointing more than 500' off the trail you're on, you're probably on the wrong trail. Lost count of the number of times I bushwhacked .10 only to find a lovely trail leading right to the cache.

 

The hider almost certainly didn't mean you to ditch your car as soon as the cache looked close enough to bushwhack for. I bet there's obvious parking and a trail somewhere.

 

If you've been looking in one area a long time with no luck, try walking in a totally different direction, way past where your GPS is sending you, then turn and walk back again from the new angle.

 

There is always more than one of the hint item. And you will always go to the wrong one first.

 

You're most likely to see wildlife when you've been quiet and still for five minutes. Rest a lot. Spend time looking over the log book.

[+niraD]

If the GPS is pointing more than 500' off the trail you're on, you're probably on the wrong trail. Lost count of the number of times I bushwhacked .10 only to find a lovely trail leading right to the cache.

The other side of the coin is to stay on the trail until you know you need to leave it. I found one cache that was about 50' off the trail, with no poison oak near the cache or between the trail and the cache. Some of the logs talked about bushwacking half a mile through poison oak. Basically, they followed the arrow at the first bend in the winding trail, and walked in a straight line to the cache. They were never more than a few hundred feet from the trail, as it was winding back and forth to follow the contour of the terrain. But they made things a lot harder for themselves.

 

You're most likely to see wildlife when you've been quiet and still for five minutes. Rest a lot. Spend time looking over the log book.

But don't spend too much time reading the log book. And if it gets dark enough that you need your flashlight to keep reading the log book, and the park closes at sunset, then you probably should have left a while ago. Not that I would know anything about that personally...

[+birdgehrl]

I'm new to geocaching as well but as others have said, make sure you mark where you got off the trail. My very first cache hunt resulted in me wandering around (pretty much) in circles looking for the trail again. You may even want to leave "bread crumb" marks on your GPS to make sure you follow the correct trail.

[Pup Patrol]

Now that I think about things, the very first tip to a new cacher would be...

 

get to know your gps unit before searching for caches.

 

Try out all the features and click through all the menu items. Read through the manual. Make your first waypoint in your yard, or in a park, etc., and walk away. Let the gps navigate back to it.

 

Learn how to manually input coordinates before starting out on a 10-stage multicache.

[+humboldt flier]

Read the logs: perhaps the owner had GPS'r issues and the co-ords. might be " out of whack " . Others might have posted better co-ords.

[+humboldt flier]

Regarding the trail:

 

From time to time look behind you and SEE what the trail behind you looks like. You, after all must return and it is a good idea to have an image of what the trail looks like. Plug in waypoints or make notes of trail junctions, intersections.

[BlueRajah]

Don't put trackables between the seats of your car.. they vanish for months.

Think "Where would I hide tupperware here?"

Don't take offense at other cachers.. some are stupid and want to cause issues.. just play your way and enjoy.

[+Mike_NJ]

Things I've made notes to start carrying:

Bug Repellent, Water, a tiny notepad, and a Pen.

[+roziecakes]

Many of the things I would say have been said by my illustrious forum compatriots already, but I will add:

 

1) Know what the poisonous and/or dangerous plants and animals look like, sound like, and smell like in your area. Know how to deal with them if you encounter them.

 

2) Bring lots of water! And sunscreen!

 

3) Don't get discouraged, it does get easier

[+Team Cotati]

Filter out all micros.

[+WRASTRO]

Search gently. If the hider didn't need to cause visible change to the area then you shouldn't need to in order to find the cache.

 

Edditt tiepo

Edited July 12, 2010 by WRASTRO

[+humboldt flier]

Search gently. If the hider didn't need to cause visibly change to the area then you shouldn't need to in order to find the cache.

Does that mean I should stop using my weed eater and Napalm.

 

But, but, but I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

 

back to the corner for a time out

[+Open_Space]

Try looking at the Google satellite images to show the cache location. If its not in deep woods, this can get you closer than your GPS if there are good landmarks nearby. Look for ditches, trees, fences etc.

[frozenflyboy]

Lessons learned the hard way:

 

2. Put toilet paper in your car. Note book paper does not make for good toilet paper and not all outhouses are stocked.

I thought paperless was the way to go.....

[+lachupa]

I'm pretty new too. I discovered that once you get within beep distance of the cache, its best to put down the GPS relax and think about where you would hide a cache if you were the one hiding it. I've almost given up a couple of times to all but trip over the thing on the way out.

 

Also and this is a sneaky little hint but say you were at a rest area on oh perhaps I-40 going through just to throw this out - Tennessee. You realize that you're pretty close but not sure where to look. You happen to notice that there is a little slight hint of a spur trail off the main trail into the woods so you follow it. You also notice a few snapped twigs on branches and maybe a fresh looking footprint - yea good idea to follow all of that because its amazing how few people treking across the same ground can make a trail.

 

My dog had started helping me find them now. He's an Aussie and pretty smart. The first time he did it I was looking all around and he was sitting right there poking it with his nose. He looked at me like "hello are you looking for this thing that smells like maybe 200 people have touched it?"

 

He goes with me every time now.

[frozenflyboy]

You happen to notice that there is a little slight hint of a spur trail off the main trail into the woods so you follow it. You also notice a few snapped twigs on branches and maybe a fresh looking footprint - yea good idea to follow all of that because its amazing how few people trekking across the same ground can make a trail.

 

My dog had started helping me find them now. He's an Aussie and pretty smart. The first time he did it I was looking all around and he was sitting right there poking it with his nose. He looked at me like "hello are you looking for this thing that smells like maybe 200 people have touched it?"

 

He goes with me every time now.

I noticed that too regarding the ground looking worse for wear. I usually notice where the area is cleared out and follow that area. I thought about borrowing the neighbours dog too. hmmm

[+geodarts]

Whatever you do, don't ask questions on the forum about whether you can do it.

[+BaylorGrad]

No one told me this until recently, and I haven't seen it mentioned yet on this thread, so here we go--if you're in the city, "lightpole caches" are quite common. Most lightpoles have a "skirt" to cover the bolts & such. You probably don't even notice them normally. Well, they can be lifted. And unless you're a Geocacher, you're unlikely to find the cache it's hiding!

[+BlueDeuce]

My best tip? Geocaching is a community.

 

Talk to your fellow cachers. Share the experience and learn from each other. Don't be afraid to ask questions, even if you've been around for a while. Hey, find me a cacher who doesn't want to talk about geocaching, eh?

 

Have fun.

[+CrayshandFamily]

I'm new at this too, but good advise a fellow cacher gave me was to read the logs and to write good logs as well. Because the logs tell your story, and if your like me, you'll enjoy reading peoples experiences. Everyones story is unique and sharing is at the heart of this game. CO also like it when you give a detailed log. It's thier biggest reward to see how you enjoyed (or not) thier work. Plus a good log can help a CO to maintain or highten the experience for others.

[TheSeayFamily]

I am also a newbie and have found the light post caches to be the bain of my existence!

[+TeamMJ2]

Don't limit the search to ground level.

 

Or the specific spot your GPS is pointing. The cache could be 40,50 or more feet from where your GPS says it is. Our units are far from perfectly accurate.

 

Also, mark the location of your car if you are entering the woods, swamp or other off the road areas.

 

This has possibly been my biggest issue on the learning curve. Learning to put the gps down and start thinking like a cache owner in the radius of gz. Thanks.

[+TeamMJ2]

When you find a trackable item write the tracking number down somewhere.

 

A common newbie error is to pick up a trackable, admire it, pop it into their bag then drop it into another cache a couple of hours later. Then when they get home to do their logs they realise that they can't move that trackable along because they haven't got the vital tracking number...

 

MrsB

 

Hey, it doesn't take a newbie to do that one.... Three years of caching and one can still occasionally do it. I ended up having to contact the cacher who dropped it in the first cache to get them to dig up the right tracking code for me. The geocoin owner had been posted to that sandy area where they fight a lot and I didn't figure he'd taken the codes with him....

 

My advice, other than what's already been mentioned...take a look at some of the websites that sell caches to get an idea of what you will be hunting for out there.

 

Oh, and if you possibly can, go caching with someone more experienced a few times. Having a mentor can make all the difference in getting a good start in the hobby/sport or not!

 

This is also really good. This bit of advice helped me find a pine cone cache just a few days ago. I would have never thought someone could do that! I also found a nano/micro cache just yesterday that super tricky. They put a Mike's Hard Lemonade cap on a nano tube and stuck it in the ground so that only the bottle cap was above ground.... Some people are just DEVIOUS! :-) I think I'll try one like it soon.

[+TeamMJ2]

Thought I would add my own tip. This definitely isn't for everyone, but if you're a bit OCD like myself, its fun and can actually work. I bring a tape measure with me and if I get really stumped on finding a cache, I've double checked where GZ should be and then either used the tape measure or just paced off about 25 feet to the N., S., E., W. I use a stick or something to mark the points, and then I have a visual, more or less, of my search radius. I then start at the perimeter of the search radius and work around in a circle bringing it it closer and closer with each rotation to the GZ. This was especially helpful in huge meadow I was looking in where the cache was a micro and could have been ANYWHERE. Yes, I did find it. :-) Hey, I warned you, I'm a bit on the OCD side.

[frozenflyboy]

Around here there is a lot of tree cover which can make for a lot of aimless wondering. What works for me is to head for a clearing, then go to the furthest from the cache side, wait there with the GPS held away from my body so it has a clear sky view. (dance the hoochy koochy once or twice ) Stay there for say 10 20 seconds till it settles, then walk towards the cache slowly a few steps and wait for it to settle again. My theory has to do with the speed of the GPS to do the complex math and allowing it to do it. Then walk straight to the cache slowly. I find it helps a lot. Even if it means going far from the cache.

 

I am a pilot by trade and I remember doing ocean patrolling using boat Lorans that would have a fit, as they were built to do the triangulation math at a max of 20 30 knots.

 

Even when you are standing still the GPS is still doing the math to verify it's position as it doesn't know it's standing still. The GPS signals are potentially dancing the Hoochy Koochy because they are not really fixed. They are passing through the atmosphere over a long distance and can be affected by a multitude of things.

[SlayerOfBunnies]

Another noob with advice here...

 

For caches in the woods, bring or find a stick. I nice walking stick is wonderful but any stick will do particularly if you (like me) would just as soon NOT break those spider webs with your face.

 

Also, hollow trees may make wonderful places to hide a cache. They also make wonderful places to hide big spiders, raccoons, possums, and so on. Best put a stick in there first before your tasty arm.