how do i break a slump

[+pvtplt172]

I am in a huge slump and want to know the best way out. I live in New england and i think some of it is due to the weather. these are my stats from my last few attempts. 1/3 2/3 2/7 2/8. i have even brought an extra pair of eyes in 2 of these hunts and come up short i would love to hear from others.

[+ADKer]

I live in the Adirondack Mountains in New York, I know how you feel.

My best advice is to make sure to look for caches with the "available in winter" attribute. That's what I've been doing, and I've found 8 this month already. Good Luck!

[+pvtplt172]

I live in the Adirondack Mountains in New York, I know how you feel.

My best advice is to make sure to look for caches with the "available in winter" attribute. That's what I've been doing, and I've found 8 this month already. Good Luck!

thanks for the advice. unfortunately even though they say winter friendly i am still taking allot of dnfs my numbers this month suck. and i have a goal of reaching 1,000 catches buy December 31st and with these numbers it will not happen :(

[+WRASTRO]

I live in the Adirondack Mountains in New York, I know how you feel.

My best advice is to make sure to look for caches with the "available in winter" attribute. That's what I've been doing, and I've found 8 this month already. Good Luck!

thanks for the advice. unfortunately even though they say winter friendly i am still taking allot of dnfs my numbers this month suck. and i have a goal of reaching 1,000 catches buy December 31st and with these numbers it will not happen :(

I can only suggest you slow down and worry less about your numbers. I joined the game on 12/26/2003 and still enjoy it tremendously. We just got to 3,400 finds while we were visiting our daughter in Nashville over the Christmas holiday and we celebrated out 10th year of caching.

[+wmpastor]

It's fun in the woods in the snow. ADK found this TB I moved up to northern NY. Stick with bigger caches, found recently.

[+The_Incredibles_]

1) Read the logs before you go out to make sure it's an easy one.

2) Look for bigger caches. Avoid micros.

[+The_Incredibles_]

Forget your goal to get to 1000 in a year. Just focus on having fun. Take photos. Stop for lunch. Geocaching is not just about finding the cache, it's about enjoying exploring new areas.

[+ngrrfan]

and i have a goal of reaching 1,000 catches buy December 31st and with these numbers it will not happen :(

You can easily find make that number after the weathr breaks and spring, summer and fall get here if you find the easy 1.5/1.5 caches. As others have said, micros can be a pain to find right now. Yesterday it took 5 of us almost 2 hours to find 2 caches. Snow wasn't a problem even though both were on the ground. It was how they were camouflaged and placed that were our bane.

Edited January 21, 2014 by ngrrfan

[+dprovan]

I am in a huge slump and want to know the best way out. I live in New england and i think some of it is due to the weather. these are my stats from my last few attempts. 1/3 2/3 2/7 2/8. i have even brought an extra pair of eyes in 2 of these hunts and come up short i would love to hear from others.

Knock it off. You found 1, 2, 2, and 2 caches. That sounds like great fun! If it wasn't fun, think about how to make it fun. Don't try to convince yourself that the 2, 1, 5, and 6 caches took away all the fun. The only thing that's likely to do is reduce both numbers to zero.

[+NeverSummer]

Remember, you set a goal to find 1000 caches this year. If it stops being fun, then you can alter your goals.

 

The only way to overcome a "slump" is to just get out and cache. It's that simple. Remember that, when the weather turns nice again, you will have opportunities to head out in better weather/more daylight and find more caches.

 

My advice is to take it easy. If you're already feeling like you're in a slump 21 days into your goal, then it is time to adjust your perspective. When I started geocaching, it would have been nearly impossible to find 1000 caches in a year without lots of travel...and even now it is hard to find caches because I've moved to a cache-poor location. It's all about perspective.

 

Anyhow, to answer your question, I'll say it again: Just go out caching to break a "slump". Remember that there are no winners in this game, and your goals are for your needs.

Edited January 21, 2014 by NeverSummer

[+Renegade Knight]

I am in a huge slump and want to know the best way out. I live in New england and i think some of it is due to the weather. these are my stats from my last few attempts. 1/3 2/3 2/7 2/8. i have even brought an extra pair of eyes in 2 of these hunts and come up short i would love to hear from others.

 

Slumps happen.

My last slump was something like 3 years. DNA. Did not attempt. No caches. None. If you are out there and looking, you are ahead of the game. If by chance you can't find one or two or three. Try another cache to break the streak then go back when you are ready for the challenge.

 

BS (Before Slump) when I did cache. I'd get annoyed at looking for nano's and micro's. So I'd filter them out and find real caches. Then when I felt like clearing out an area I'd go back and find the micro's and nano's. Sumps are really about the enjoyment. If you aren't enjoying. That's a slump. Change tack. Try another area, bigger cache, easier hide, or buy a Lego Death Star and build it. Whatever brings the enjoyment back.

Edited January 22, 2014 by Renegade Knight

[+K13]

I am in a huge slump and want to know the best way out. I live in New england and i think some of it is due to the weather. these are my stats from my last few attempts. 1/3 2/3 2/7 2/8. i have even brought an extra pair of eyes in 2 of these hunts and come up short i would love to hear from others.

 

The 7/21 finds brought your find total up by seven to a total of 32 - Almost 1/4 of your finds. Not a bad average for someone just getting started. If you are in the hobby to amass numbers, hit the ET Highway or Route 66.power trails. You can have 3000+ finds within a couple of weeks during vacation time away from home.

 

7 out of 21 = .333 average. Great stat for a baseball hitter - puts guys in the Hall of Fame. This game is about having fun.....finding caches is just the by-product. I hope you enjoy the fun of the hunt more than the satisfaction of the find.

[+cachepohl]

 

7 out of 21 = .333 average. Great stat for a baseball hitter - puts guys in the Hall of Fame. This game is about having fun.....finding caches is just the by-product. I hope you enjoy the fun of the hunt more than the satisfaction of the find.

 

Well said - a slump would be not going out to cache

I do understand the TO though, during my first days of caches it felt like a defeat not to find a cache others stated as "easy find", something like "am I too dumb to find it?!?". Nowadays however (after still a small number of finds compared to others ... while I avoid the comparison for me), the attitude got more relaxed.

I still have some DNFs although some of the common hides have grown to "obvious" - but the owners each (or at least some ) are creative enough to invent some individual hides. Enjoying the way to the hide, learning new areas (even in my closer home surrounding where I have lived over 40 years now), figuring out where it might be ... that's the fun. If I don't find it: *shrug* *sometimes short grumble* - that's when I get the idea I may still have to get some more experience. And that the owner has some skills The lastest DNF was/is a 'large' container ... so I really must be kind of blind. Someday ... it may not hide that well anymore.

 

Some autobahn "drive-in" caches in rest areas ... I don't even log them, spotting them is enough for a short smile, to make up for the occasional grumble (see above).

 

So pvtplt172, don't hook on the numbers, just enjoy the challenge. Over a while the "ratio" will get better. As long as you see places worth visiting - who would care if there's a film canister hidden there?

 

Cheers,

Michael

[+WiFi902]

I can understand that you want to get big numbers. Some cachers want big numbers and there is nothing wrong with that. If they want to do that it is their own business. Good for them.

I have been caching for 13 months and I have 1973 finds. 1000 finds in one year is very possible, but there is no point in making a goal like that if you are going to get upset when it doesn't happen. You also should not let caching become a chore in trying to achieve that goal. I found 1829 caches in 2013, only because I am enjoying being outside caching a lot and that is what I happened to end up with as a total.

I am also doing a streak right now and with all the snow we've been getting it makes it difficult. I am not willing to let this streak become a chore and if there comes a day that it is too rainy, or too snowy, I will forget about the streak and let it go.

Only you can decide what goals to make. My advice is not to let caching become a burden just to reach a goal. That is when it wont be fun anymore, and the idea is for caching to be fun.

[+pvtplt172]

I can understand that you want to get big numbers. Some cachers want big numbers and there is nothing wrong with that. If they want to do that it is their own business. Good for them.

I have been caching for 13 months and I have 1973 finds. 1000 finds in one year is very possible, but there is no point in making a goal like that if you are going to get upset when it doesn't happen. You also should not let caching become a chore in trying to achieve that goal. I found 1829 caches in 2013, only because I am enjoying being outside caching a lot and that is what I happened to end up with as a total.

I am also doing a streak right now and with all the snow we've been getting it makes it difficult. I am not willing to let this streak become a chore and if there comes a day that it is too rainy, or too snowy, I will forget about the streak and let it go.

Only you can decide what goals to make. My advice is not to let caching become a burden just to reach a goal. That is when it wont be fun anymore, and the idea is for caching to be fun.

 

thanks allot. thats what i have been doing i love geocaching so much. I got caught up with it. The other day i went with my cousin geocaching just out of the blue. we kicked a**. we went 6/7 and we did not care about numbers i am trying to do it just for fun now and relax . thanks for the advice

[+hzoi]

I had a goal of reaching 1,000 caches when I had 0 finds.

 

I finally got there 15 months later. Which I thought was a while, but there are plenty of cachers who would think me a numbers hound for getting to 1,000 that quickly.

 

These days, with the new job and the baby, I'm just happy when I get out to cache at all.

[+SirDonB]

I have been caching for about 3 years now, and 23 finds ago, I had the goal to reach 100. Guess what, with 123 finds under my belt, I made it. I tend to cache mostly at night which adds a notch or 2 the difficulty. As I go back to my finds with my kids so they can find and log them, I laugh at some of the ones I should have been able to just walk up to and find that took me more than one visit to get. I guess you could say I am in a slump myself right now as I am not caching much due to the weather here in upstate NY. I get out when I can, I find what I can, and if I dont find it, it goes on my personal hit list, that list of DNFs that I will eventually find. Heck, I have one that should be easy as pie, but it has been about 2 years since I first went looking for it and have yet to find it. Yes it is driving me a lil bonkers, but the find will be that much sweeter when I come up with the cache in hand. The only reason it bothers me that I have not found it yet is becuase it seems like it should be a quick easy find from my POV, however that is not how this one is turning out.

 

From your last posting it seems like you have done what was best for you... you stopped reevaluated, changed what you had control over, and made it enjoyable again. Good for you and keep on caching. you will have your bad days with a lot of DNF, and you will have your perfect days with no DNFs, it just depends if the caching gods are with you that day or not. Dont loose sleep over it, not worth it. Just stop, regroup, and try again another time.