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Newbie With A Concern....


hiispy4u

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I spent a good deal of time getting set up for this, I have a Garmin iQUE and an Emap. I have CacheMate, CacheNav and am a premium member, so I get the gpx files. I made a "cache poke stick" thing, that serves as a combination poking stick, hiking tool AND I have a Gilsson amplified external antenna mounted on the top of it that I can use to make sure I am getting above a good bit of the ground clutter, getting sub 15 feet average accuracy in heavy tree cover and often, better than that....below 8 feet at times. I am ex-Army and am experienced in ground navigation....but here's my concern....

 

If I can accurately get within 10 feet of a cache, but am STILL having problems finding some....then what is the point to this game? I promise, I could give someone EXACT coords to a specific spot, heck, I could even take you there and PUT you on a spot and say "find it", having hidden IT to where NOONE could find "it". But what is the point? Why is a GPS even involved here when many cache hiders seem to love the smaller the better and the more difficultly hidden, the better, etc. I understand some kids even enjoy this with their parents...my wife and I looked for over an hour today for a cache that we were supposedly within three feet of, at times, that was only rated a 1.5 difficulty. How could a kid enjoy this, when an adequately equipped (and trained) adult has problems (setting myself up for some serious ribbing here)? I have found 6 of 9, so far, so I won't give up yet, but how about some tips or LOGIC into the mindset of this concept? I am at your mercy and thanks for reading my rant. :) (Yesterday, I got bloodied legs "bushwacking" through palmettos, today I climbed 12 trees, looking.....aarrgh)

 

Any thoughts or tips appreciated.......

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If I can accurately get within 10 feet of a cache, but am STILL having problems finding some....then what is the point to this game?

 

Ummm, maybe the challenge?

 

esterday, I got bloodied legs "bushwacking" through palmettos, today I climbed 12 trees, looking.....aarrgh

 

Hmmm, maybe you're getting the point afterall. :)

Edited by briansnat
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All I can suggest is to keep in mind that even though your GPS may be super accurate, there is no guarantee that the GPS the person who hid it was using was equally accurate.

 

In my opinion, the GPS is used to get you to the general area. Sometimes it'll take me right to the cache, other times I have to spend some time looking around.

 

Stick with it. After a few finds, you'll begin to get better, and start to know what to look for. The more ya find the easier it gets. :)

 

Edit: typo

Edited by Mr. 0
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I'm fairly new to this as well.

 

For me, a clever hide is a big part of what makes it fun. Anybody can use a GPS to get within a few feet of most places on the planet, barring terrain and other difficulties. To hide a cache in such a way that it's challenging, intriguing, or interesting to find is much more of an art form.

 

A couple of weeks ago I spent about 20 minutes standing on a cold, windy overpass in the middle of freakin' nowhere, wondering what the heck it was that I was looking for and why I was supposed to be enjoying this. And then I spotted a clue in the distance, had an "aha!" moment, and swooped down on the cache. To solve that puzzle and find what I was searching for was way more fun *for me* than any tupperware container hidden under a stairway, no matter how scenic the walk was to get there.

 

The nice thing about caching is that there's something for everyone. Some people are about the hike, some about numbers, some about puzzles.. and everybody gets to play the way they want. Ain't it grand?

 

One of the things that you'll find, though, is after a couple dozen you start recognizing common hiding techniques and you'll pick them out faster.

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Me too. I typically find myself 20-30 feet from the cache. Then you gotta look for the obvious hiding places.

 

Don't forget, you really can't just leave a box out in the open - it will get 'muggled'. That means that someone who is not familiar with the activity may take it and destroy/steal it. This has happened numerous times even with HIDDEN boxes. if it were a perfect world, there would be no need to 'hide' them. As it is, we do have to hide them. And if you get someone clever, the finding the hiding spot can be a lot of fun! :)

Edited by New England n00b
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I like the clever hides too. Lots of soggy tupperware under bushes out there, hehehee, and don't get me wrong, I like finding all sorts! But I just love the puzzles, and those epiphanies. that is fun. To each their own.

Also, I would have to say ditto to the probablity that the cache placer was not using as precise a set up as yourself. I am just using a handheld. Hell, I don't think I have ever seen it below 10 ft accuracy, and that was in the middle of a field, after sitting there for a bit, oh, and it was up high. :)

sounds like you had fun though.

 

Oh, wow. I used to live on the base in Mayport when I was a kid. :P hope the weather is treating you well.

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Thank you all for responding so quickly....you have given me some newfound confidence to keep at this. I guess I just hate "failure", when I can't find one....but I guess the point is to enjoy the environment (saw a baby armadillo today, an alligator day before yesterday), enjoy the hunt and move on to the next cache!

 

(edited: and YES the weather has been GREAT!)

Edited by hiispy4u
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The one thing that annoys me to no end is ratings. I can't stand getting psyched up for a 1/1 only to have to look for a micro in a 15 acre rock pile that is 27' deep with holes that go all the way down.

 

It's not quite as bad looking for a 4/4 only to find it hanging from a branch in the only tree for 100 miles.

 

As long as I know what to expect I can gear up for bloody legs, a 2 hour search or sifting sand to find a bison capsule.

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Failure is a hard pill to swallow until you realize the only failure you can really have in this sport is the failure to enjoy yourself.

 

Keep at it! I have seen the best of the cache hunters come back with DNFs. I just posted one myself the other day. I know I was on top of it, just haven't recognized what I was looking at as a cache yet.

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Speaking just for ourselves...We love the challenge that comes from well-hidden caches. If we were to go out and find nothing but ammo cans, things would get old fast. And we pride ourselves on placing unique, challenging hides to keep things interesting in our area.

 

We can certainly remember our most miserable failures. There was one we spent an hour on in the early part of our caching career and no matter how many times we went and looked, we came up empty handed. A few weeks ago we went back and found it in all of 3 seconds. Amazing what a few months and an extra 500+ finds under your belt will do! :)

 

If we had let our initial frustrations get to us, we'd never have had the fantastic experiences or met many of the great people. We still have our (frequent) failures...but we've learned to accept those as part of the fun. Enjoy getting out and seeing new things, failures and all!

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Ihave to do a lot of my caching while on llunch breaks and the like. I don't have a lot of time to waste looking for a breath strip container in the middle of a sticker farm. Give me an ammo box in a hollow log anyday! I enjoy the walk as much as the find but I like to find the dang thing.

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just restating what's already been said but to me the success is finding new places and enjoying the scenery. most of the time i just log tnln anyway. i've been to places that i never knew were there and seen views i never knew existed.

it's not a failure to not find the cache it's a bonus if you do. keep at it and look up every now and then from all that equipment to see what's around you!

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I do think that some cachers try to be too darn clever with their hides. After you've drug me through poison oak, up mountains, across streams and had me spend a tank of gas I'd like to be able to find it within a few minutes. There are ways to hide a cache that a cacher would spot but a muggle wouldn't. Bark lined up perfectly along a log, under a tree, that sort of thing.

 

When I fail to find a cache because it's too cleverly hidden, I usually won't go back. Screw it.

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I do think that some cachers try to be too darn clever with their hides.

I tend to agree.

 

In the woods, the only thing you need to do is make sure muggles don't find it. In fact, it's best to hide it so it's fairly easy to find so the area doesn't get trampled.

 

Does it really accomplish anything to hide something in the woods where most probably only someone looking for your cache will venture, but even he can't find? I just don't see the point. Without an interesting hike or view, a cache in the woods is really no different than any other cache in the woods.

 

On the other hand, a clever hide where muggles walk within a couple of feet of it is interesting. There the whole point is the cache being hard to find because otherwise it'd get muggled.

 

There has to be some point to a cache, something interesting.

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I do think that some cachers try to be too darn clever with their hides. After you've drug me through poison oak, up mountains, across streams and had me spend a tank of gas I'd like to be able to find it within a few minutes. There are ways to hide a cache that a cacher would spot but a muggle wouldn't. Bark lined up perfectly along a log, under a tree, that sort of thing.

 

When I fail to find a cache because it's too cleverly hidden, I usually won't go back. Screw it.

You wouldn't be Lazyboy, would you? :)

 

:P

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I do think that some cachers try to be too darn clever with their hides.

 

I agree with this to a point. If the cache is at the end of a nice, long hike in a scenic area, I'm not really interested in spending 2 hours looking for a micro, or cleverly disguised container. But if its a 2 minute stroll in a small, doggie poop park, a clever hide makes things much more interesting.

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You wouldn't be Lazyboy, would you? :)

How did you know?

 

I agree with this to a point. If the cache is at the end of a nice, long hike in a scenic area, I'm not really interested in spending 2 hours looking for a micro, or cleverly disguised container. But if its a 2 minute stroll in a small, doggie poop park, a clever hide makes things much more interesting.

Obviously in a crowded area you need to hide it better. I would return to a park like that a couple of times to locate it. I just won't spend a day looking for one that's "too" clever out in the woods.

 

One type of email that always makes me cringe is when a cacher writes that he disguised it better than he found it.

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Thank you all for responding so quickly....you have given me some newfound confidence to keep at this. I guess I just hate "failure", when I can't find one....but I guess the point is to enjoy the environment (saw a baby armadillo today, an alligator day before yesterday), enjoy the hunt and move on to the next cache!

 

(edited: and YES the weather has been GREAT!)

I know how you feel. Last night I went looking for a cache. I didn't find it the last time, and I still can't find it. Looking at the logs, it doesn't seem to be that hard for anyone else. I've found other caches that in seconds that others spend a half hour searching for. I was pretty peeved that I couldn't find it the second time around, but that's ok because I generally never reat hints - and I don't take the hints into the field with me. I do this knowing full well that I might not be able to find the cache and will have to come back later. That makes it a challenge and sometimes very frustrating, but then again, I play gold, so I'm used to it.

 

;-)

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From a way out of the way,In the Middle of the Woods,point of view.

I have to drive over 70 miles to hunt now,I am not in a Cacheville area.,In fact I am the only one for about 70 miles that is active at all.

I have a diffrent perspective,all the latest technology do not have the maps for the backroads here,so you have to study in advance,of all the options,I am not going to drive back 70 miles to get a hint,I am well prepared on every mission.

 

I still have NO did not finds,but I do not give up till I find it.

On benchmarks I do have a lot of Did not finds though.

 

To me it boils down to I am learning a new area,and the terrains that go with it,hopefully the geocacher has put thought into the hide and gives the hunter that thrill of the chase.

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I too am a newbie with the same concern. So far, if I have that problem, I log it as did not find, then watch the cache and if someone else finds it after me, I at least know it wasn't muggled. Then I try it again with a fresh perspective and sometimes it justs pops out where it should be. I must be a masochist because I love the feeling I get when I slap my head and go "Duh - of course thats where it is".

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We like the hard searches.

 

Even if it's a long walk, and scenic, even if the terrain to get there is hard, (I like bushwacking)- heck, I like to search a little bit to find the thing at the end.

 

The GPS are so accurate, they pretty much take you right to the spot. I like a clever hide.

 

I enjoy the easy ones too, but the harder ones are my preference.

 

Goes to show you that there are people out there geocaching who like all sorts of different things.

 

Some want to take grandma and the kids on an easy stroll and want their 4 or 5 year old to have the pleasure of finding the treasure. Some want to work for the find.

 

Everybody is right. I guess you just have to keep in mind that not every hide is going to be for everyone.

 

The rating system is pretty subjective so one does what one can to prepare hunters.

 

We've not been able to find one so far out of 16 (ok, we're relatively new). That one had been moved by the previous finder and we hadn't seen that info in the log. It was still a nice hike even though it is of course more entertaining to find the cache.

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Perhaps you should take a crack at Benchmark hunting. THis may be more fun for you if you are intrigued by the accuracy of a GPS.

 

When i have a tough time finding a cache, i mark some readings and narrow down my search area. If its obvious that the cache could not be hidden in my 'makeshift' search area, i turn the GPS off and use "the force".

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You might put away the equipment and try doing a few caches WaldenRun style. It was an eye opener for me. I found three caches using just a topo map and the cache page.

What I learned: Get close, stop, look and see the area.

Without the distraction of the GPS I actually was more observent.

 

As a cache hider I have learned a few things frm this topic.

The hide should be about the experience. A balance of location, journey, and cleverness in the hide make for an enjoyable cache find.

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Failure is a hard pill to swallow until you realize the only failure you can really have in this sport is the failure to enjoy yourself.

Quite possibly the BEST post I've seen regarding the hunt!

 

Thanks -- I'll have to pass that one along! Proper credit given, of course... :)

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Some of my favorite caches are DNFs.

 

Today I stood there, just enjoying the day. Beautiful weather. A beautiful view. Enjoing it all instead of having another lunch indoors another forgetable fast food restaurant. I couldn't find the cache, but the trip itself was worth it. I wanted to enjoy the moment so that when I wrote it up it would focus on how nice the day was and not the whole "well I couldn't find the cache" bit.

 

As I was enjoying everything I noticed that the cache was literally a foot away.

 

The funny part was while finding the cache gave me a good laugh at myself, it didn't actually change the quality of the day. It was a great cache as a DNF. It was still a great cache after the find.

 

That's what I love about geocaching.

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Are you Geocaching or getting ready for war? With all that stuff you are toting along it's no wonder you are having difficulty finding caches. From your description it sounds like you are a walking electronic gizmo.

 

Our version of Geocaching is simple. The GPS is only used as a guide to get you in and, most importantly, get you out. I have wiped out all the map features in my GPS and only use a blank map screen that shows my position and the cache. We normally use the heading pointer to guide us towards the cache while on the road without the benefit of maps. Once the GPS indicates that we are under 100 feet of the cache then it gets put away and the search begins. If this sport was about following the GPS to precise location with no doubt then I would agree "What's the point?".

 

Try using the GPS only as we do. You'll be totally amazed at the locations you end up in, the neighborhoods around the corner you never knew existed and the thrill of hunting down something partially blind. For a real test try going after caches with only downloading the waypoint and not reading any of the clues. This adds quite a bit of challange and excitement to hunt but will also add alot of DNF to your experience.

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Failure is a hard pill to swallow until you realize the only failure you can really have in this sport is the failure to enjoy yourself.

 

Keep at it! I have seen the best of the cache hunters come back with DNFs. I just posted one myself the other day. I know I was on top of it, just haven't recognized what I was looking at as a cache yet.

PROFOUND! That sums it up for me too.

 

You just made my notepad of geo-quotes to throw at people when I want to send a message.

 

Sn :D:D gans

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I can't stand getting psyched up for a 1/1...

 

You get psyched up for a 1/1? :D

 

I understand... I get psyched up for any of them...

 

 

I would definitely not be caching still, if I could plug the coords in, and walk over to the cache. I definitely prefer some sneaky hikes. As frustrating as they are, and as much as I will curse the hider at the time, when I find it, it's great!

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Are you Geocaching or getting ready for war?

 

LOL, I guess I was a gizmo geek, and GPSr lover before getting into this, now I am just using all that crap to enjoy the new sport. I have learned, since my original post, that one of the caches that had caused so much frustration is MIA and another was (erroneously) hidden by another cacher EXACTLY where the hint said it wasn't, it had fallen out of the tree it was in.....

 

Not that you all care, but things are getting better, and more fun!!! The more you look, the more you'll find. Thanks for all the insight... ;)

 

Jeff

 

edited to add this....

Once the GPS indicates that we are under 100 feet of the cache then it gets put away and the search begins. If this sport was about following the GPS to precise location with no doubt then I would agree "What's the point?".

 

Try using the GPS only as we do. You'll be totally amazed at the locations you end up in, the neighborhoods around the corner you never knew existed and the thrill of hunting down something partially blind. For a real test try going after caches with only downloading the waypoint and not reading any of the clues.

 

Your version of caching doesn't even need a GPSr, I'll give you one to find....go out to the end of x road, walk into woods and find something (lol, no hints now, ANYTHING) in a 100 foot by 100 foot area. Could be in a tree, on the ground, disguised, covered up, organic oriented, manmade....whew?! What fun....

 

No logs, no clues or hints, within 100 feet and putting away the equipment? You must have some whimpy woods and haven't come across any caches in a pine cone, a fake rock, or an old split log, like I've seen here. No offense meant, but "You talkem' big, Keemosabe!"

 

I find the same neighborhoods around the corner, only I know I'm on the right street, not the one 100 feet away! ;)

Edited by hiispy4u
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There has to be some point to a cache, something interesting.

Dittos!

 

Some hides are unnecessarily difficult and some caches are pointless.

 

Hiding a pill bottle in the leaves off a forest trail accomplishes nothing but damage to the area by intense searching. Putting a cache at every historical marker is pointless.

 

Lead me to a neat place, put a reasonably sized and cleverly but tactfully hidden cache there, and I'm in "hog heaven"- even if I log a no-find.

 

Equipment vs. experience:

 

We must operate within the inaccuracies of the system. I never expect to get closer than 50 feet of a cache, especially in the first few minutes of the walk-in. There are just too many variables to expect pin-point accuracy.

 

Many noobs tend to be too dependent on the technology. It would be much better to concentrate on learning typical hiding techniques and what to look for and leave all the extra equipment at home. A GPS (not even necessarily a good one) and a finely tuned sense of what is not "right" or "out of place" and "thinking outside the box" is all that is really needed to enjoy the sport.

 

Knowing how the game is typically played (read: experience) will soon teach there is (usually) no need to go climbing trees, or raking leaves, or turning over a bunch of rocks in a pile. Generally if you are "right dead on" and you don't find the cache it is probably because you are not "right dead on" where the cache actually IS. Better to expand the search than to "scour the earth" at ground zero.

 

By and large, cache hides are simple. If you are not finding caches, you are more likely not looking in the right place, rather than not looking closely enough.

 

Bottom line advice for newbies: Expand the area of the search before you increase the intensity of the search.

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Welcome to a hobby that can become additive ;)

 

I bought an IQue for work related use and soon found out about geocaching.. Within the first 40 finds or so we decided to buy a different GPS. (No this is not an iQue bash.. We still own it and use it almost daily) I decided I wanted something with more features int he way of a GPS and less in the way of a PDA. Also I/we have done alot of mountain caches and I dont feel comfortable boulder hopping with a $500 device that will shatter on impact.

 

I also found I got alot closer to caches with a different GPS. Maybe for no other reason then screen settings.. After we have found a good number of caches and found we had to drive 50+ miles for more, we have also decided that we now really enjoy a super hunt.. _IF_ the area is nice and _IF_ the cache is not simply a ziplock bag thrown into the knee high tumbleweeds..

 

I have 2 caches that I drove over 90 miles one way to research for. I also knew these caches were hidden just for this purpose. To be a challenge.

An example is http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...74-b694db2542a7

 

Believe me, we are still searching for a few.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...cc-2c3b5abd77d3 is another fine example of a painful cache hunt. I dont know which caches you had trouble with, but the cache owner should make some comment in his description if it is intended to be ubber hard. Some people have so many caches under the belt that they forget others are new. We watched a young couple look for a cache for over 20 minutes one day.. This same cache my seven year old found in about 45 seconds.. The difference is we had seen this type of hide before, they had not.. So after 20 minutes and they had not walked away, we introduced ourselves and my children were allowed to give them hints ;) .. We try to never reveal a caches location unless the cacher is new and truly wants help.. We have learned the hunt is the fun.

 

To end this, my wife and I spent over an hour searching within a 25 foot radius for a cache recently. When we found it, we felt a sense of pride because it was a truly unique hide..

 

If you find yourself getting frustrated while looking for a cache, step back and remember it is a game of sport. There is no winner and no loser. Number of finds is only a brag point if the other person cares.. We play for the purpose of having new places to go as a family; It does not matter if it is in the desert, mountains, or just a new mall's parking lot. We have spent more quality time as a family while hunting silly little boxes then we did for along time because even the four year old is interested in this. :o

 

Enjoy the find.. And dont stress the small stuff, walk away and find a different one.

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Again, thanks for the replys and the introduction to a truly cool sport. As a newbie, and obviously with limited experience, I have to concentrate on the only factor that I can insure I can minimize the negative factors. Maybe that isn't the best way to put it. If I don't know what to look for, based on lack of experience, etc., then I want to use what IS available to me, tech, tools,etc. to get as close as POSSIBLE to the spot where the cache SHOULD be. Then I can flop around like a fish out of water and hope to get lucky now and then..... ;)

 

A word to you pros then, make them hard, cool, make them little and camoflaged, cool, make then disguised as a cow flop in a pasture!!!!.....Just make sure your coords are good, your hints aren't useless, and I'll get it....eventually.

 

;)

 

and a sense of humor doesn't hurt for all of us, huh?

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I enjoy finding a variety of caches, from the easy ones to the hard ones. What bugs me, though, is when someone hides a difficult, well-camoflaged, micro in the middle of the woods where there is thick vegetation. It doesn't take long before the whole area gets bushwacked to death with cachers attempting to find the "needle in the haystack."

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I enjoy finding a variety of caches, from the easy ones to the hard ones. What bugs me, though, is when someone hides a difficult, well-camoflaged, micro in the middle of the woods where there is thick vegetation. It doesn't take long before the whole area gets bushwacked to death with cachers attempting to find the "needle in the haystack."

 

Here, Here! Well said, and whatnot....

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I have seen us return 5 times in the night during winter at well below 0 to hunt for tags and not even the cache. The satisfaction of completeing a tough find is really fun in the end. Some cache placers may have a not so accurate jugement of dificulty rateing sometimes.

Have you tried a night find yet? They can be a lot of fun. The more you will find the more you will see the methods of hiding and camoflauge.

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:) I have driven 60 miles to find a cache 4 DIFFERENT TIMES. I was within 2 feet of it the first time, and didn't find it. My 4th trip I found it. Gave me a feeling of great satisfaction, with a little bit of "how could I be so stupid?"

thrown in.

 

Hang in there. Maybe go with an experienced Cacher and seee how he/she searches for a cache. You'll get the hang of it. BY the way, my magellan with WAAS is only accurate to about 30 feet.

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I enjoy finding a variety of caches, from the easy ones to the hard ones. What bugs me, though, is when someone hides a difficult, well-camoflaged, micro in the middle of the woods where there is thick vegetation. It doesn't take long before the whole area gets bushwacked to death with cachers attempting to find the "needle in the haystack."

I agree! Just an additional two cents on the micro in a haystack concept. I live in South Florida and we don't have a ton of natural areas to put full size caches in. As a result, alot of the caches are micro, which is fine. I just hate to "waste" a great area for a full size cache on a micro! The first one like that I went to find the area was getting destroyed by cachers destroying everything looking for a micro in the bush. Gives us cachers a bad name. Plus, I spent most the time complaining about wasting a really good spot on a micro (I know, that's my problem). Just wish some people would think before they hide.

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We learned something on our very first cache... It was a multi with three film cannisters leading up to the ammo can. It was in a residential green belt. As we approached the third micro, I spotted a big tree at the right bearing and distance and convinced myself that was the hiding place. We spent a full half-hour looking -- and I made several trips around the base of the big tree -- before we gave up. We went back a few days later and found the micro about three feet from the tree. I was so convinced it was at the base of the tree that I got tunnel vision. Keep the mind open, Grasshopper!

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At our last count, we have 222 DNFs. It's a shame that it's not possible to see other member's DNFs because my DNF logs are usually more interesting than my found logs. Learn to enjoy the challenge, and be picky about the caches you attempt early on. Read the past logs before you go out to get a feel for how challenging the hide is (this is much more useful than the difficulty rating). Also, you might want to stay away from micros at the start, because they tend to be more frustrating.

 

--Marky

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I spent a good deal of time getting set up for this, I have a Garmin iQUE and an Emap. I have CacheMate, CacheNav and am a premium member, so I get the gpx files. I made a "cache poke stick" thing, that serves as a combination poking stick, hiking tool AND I have a Gilsson amplified external antenna mounted on the top of it that I can use to make sure I am getting above a good bit of the ground clutter, getting sub 15 feet average accuracy in heavy tree cover and often, better than that....below 8 feet at times. I am ex-Army and am experienced in ground navigation....but here's my concern....

 

If I can accurately get within 10 feet of a cache, but am STILL having problems finding some....then what is the point to this game? I promise, I could give someone EXACT coords to a specific spot, heck, I could even take you there and PUT you on a spot and say "find it", having hidden IT to where NOONE could find "it". But what is the point? Why is a GPS even involved here when many cache hiders seem to love the smaller the better and the more difficultly hidden, the better, etc. I understand some kids even enjoy this with their parents...my wife and I looked for over an hour today for a cache that we were supposedly within three feet of, at times, that was only rated a 1.5 difficulty. How could a kid enjoy this, when an adequately equipped (and trained) adult has problems (setting myself up for some serious ribbing here)? I have found 6 of 9, so far, so I won't give up yet, but how about some tips or LOGIC into the mindset of this concept? I am at your mercy and thanks for reading my rant. :D (Yesterday, I got bloodied legs "bushwacking" through palmettos, today I climbed 12 trees, looking.....aarrgh)

 

Any thoughts or tips appreciated.......

I would stick with it awhile, and suspect that at some point you will start to enjoy and appreciate a clever hide. Once you have many finds under your belt, you may even feel a greater sense of enjoyment when you have to search for some time and then finally find a very challenging hide vs. just being able to walk up to the spot with your GPS and immediately see the box. I understand we all have different perspectives -- my question actually would have been just the opposite -- what fun is it to be able to go to a point with the GPS and immediately find the cache -- BORING! Anyway, hope you have fun and enjoy the sport.

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Failure is a hard pill to swallow until you realize the only failure you can really have in this sport is the failure to enjoy yourself.

 

Hey someone write this down and save it! This is the best line I ever have read on the forums -- I'm totally serious.

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A word to you pros then, make them hard, cool, make them little and camoflaged, cool, make then disguised as a cow flop in a pasture!!!!.....Just make sure your coords are good, your hints aren't useless, and I'll get it....eventually.

Definitely good advice, especially about the hints. I have mixed feelings about hints. I like to disguise most of my hints in the cache description and use the encrypted hint as a total spoiler so people don't search in vain.

 

But it seems you may still be getting a little too concerned about the coords.

 

While I agree "good coords" are a MUST, I cannot easily define what "good coords" actually are.

 

"Good coords" make it much easier, but are not really necessary. I am NOT saying a cache hider should be careless or deceptive in their coords. On the contrary, a hider has an obligation to post the best coords they can. But we must all recognize that the "best" may not be really "good" sometimes.

 

Everyone who plays and everyone who places a cache does not necessarily have top-of-the-line equipment. Sometimes satellite reception just aint that good even WITH top-of-the-line equipment. And even with "the best" coords, the margin of error, considering both the hider's and the seeker's equipment should be assumed to be AT LEAST 50 feet. Typical specs for consumer grade GPSRs is +- 15 meters with WAAS enabled.

 

So far, in all my cache hides, I have yet to be able to go back later and read the same coords as I posted. (I have not really hidden THAT many that I might be considered an "PRO") I generally post a 2 minute WAAS average if I can get it and I consider that "good enough". With my machine (which is at least pretty CLOSE to top-of-the-line) it is futile to try to get truly repeatable coords. And that is different days with THE SAME MACHINE. Good luck repeating them with a DIFFERENT GPSr.

 

I do not consider someone else's coords "off" unless my machine zeros at least 100' away- after several minutes at the cache.

 

I believe we could still play this game if the guvment decided to turn selective availability back on. But then we WOULD need a little better clues and you could definitely kiss the deep woods film cans goodbye (they suck anyway).

 

I started out with a Garmin Street Pilot which couldn't see three satellites in an open field half the time with its stock antenna. I found caches. "Good coords- or good equipment is not "everything" in this game. Many are doing fine with "bad".

 

If I get within 75' I'll usually find it- or "die" trying! (But that's just ME)

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Best practical suggestions:

 

Avoid Microcaches in deep woods (check your map of the area)

 

The GPS coords may be off due to inaccuracies of the original coords or your gear. Hiders try as best they can, you will try to zero in as best as you can.

 

The odds of zeroing in exactly are pretty low. Odds are good you'll only discover a "ring" where the supposed target is. Standard search protocol should ensue, once you begin the GyPSy-dance:

search the immediate area, within 10 feet of the designated point, advancing by 10 feet after each thorough search of the area. After about 40 radius, it's time to reverify the target zone. Go to a different spot and verify the direction and distance. Correct your target point accordingly. You'll find you can triangulate on the right spot, better than you can zero in on the right spot.

 

Janx

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