Help

[+hearts2434]

Help, have looked for 4 caches and have not found a one. Am new to this. Have only gone looking at night. Anyone have any advice.

[+New England n00b]

1) Do caches rated 1 for terrain and 1 for difficulty

2) Cache in daylight for the first few

3) Maybe go with someone from your local caching organization

4) Tell us what equipment you have and what your methodology is for better help

[+AuntieWeasel]

I have no idea how anyone finds caches at night. It's all I can do to find them in broad daylight.

 

People really hide them, as well as they can, so others don't find them by accident. So I'm looking for visual cues, like unnatural piles of sticks or rocks. I'd never catch that in darkness.

[+briansnat]

Start with easy (1-2 star difficulty), regular caches (no micros) and do them during the daylight. Don't rely too much on your GPS. It will get you to the general area, but it will rarely pinpoint the cache. In most cases expect to be about 25 and as many as 50 feet off from the cache. So when your GPS reads about 40 feet away, put it down and start looking for it.

 

First look for the obvious. A hollow stump, a large crevice in rocks or something similar where a container can be concealed. Then look for something that doesn't look quite right. Rocks piled in a way mother nature never would do it. An unnatural looking pile of sticks, bark, etc... Look for down trees and check at the base, then along the length of the tree, paying particularly close attention to spots where branches split off.

 

If you still haven't found it, grab your GPS and walk away from the area and let it guide you back. It may bring you to a slightly different spot the second time. Start your search again there.

[+welch]

Also, make sure you have your gpsr is set to the right datum and format (wgs-84 hddd.mm.mm). If you check the manuel for your gpsr it should be in there.

[+Thot]

Help, have looked for 4 caches and have not found a one.  Am new to this.  Have only gone looking at night.  Anyone have any advice.

Like AuntieWeasel says, I have enough trouble finding them when I can see.

 

Maybe my beginners guide will help. See link in the tagline.

[+JohnnyVegas]

First look for the obvious. A hollow stump, a large crevice in rocks or something similar where a container can be concealed. Then look for something that doesn't look quite right. Rocks piled in a way mother nature never would do it. An unnatural looking pile of sticks, bark, etc... Look for down trees and check at the base, then along the length of the tree, paying particularly close attention to spots where branches split off.

 

Wow , you gave away all the good spots

[+blindleader]

For night caching.

Or, in the Pacific Northwest, most day caching November to April; In the woods any time of day or night, any time of year.

[+Thot]

For night caching.

Hmm. . . a blind guy with a flashlight?

[norrisp]

Havent tried night search yet but understand the frustration. Have found one of three that I have looked for in the day time. One I am convinced has been removed. but I feel for ya. Briansnat gave some good tips.

[+graveyard mom]

Oh my gosh, I can't imagine doing this at night! I can say that on my first day, hubby and I only found one out of 5 that we looked for (did better the next day with the kid, 3 out of 5). But after the first couple of not finding I was almost ready to throw in the towel. Hubby wouldn't let me. The first find was awesome, it felt like such an accomplishment.

 

I would definitely say stay away from more difficult and micros at first unless you really know the area, that is what I am doing.

 

from a fellow n00b

[+JohnnyVegas]

Night geocaching is the sign of a very serious illness called Ifristolocatecacheness, Symptoms include checking for new caches every two hours. Keeping a GPS and Pocket PC hooked up to a computer for fast down loads. Having a pack ready to go by the door with extra batteries and three flashlights. Never taking your shoes off so that you can leaving in a matter of seconds. Panic attacks from not having internet access for more than 15 minutes. Not knowing which direction to have your car facing when you park it. Thinking the person in the car in front of you is going to get to the cache first. Being afraid to take a vacation because someone might get a FTF in your area while you are gone.

 

Yes we may need a 12 steps program for those the suffer from Ifristolocatecacheness.

 

I have to go now, I think I parked my truck I the wrong direction and I have not check for any new caches today.

[WH]

Night geocaching is the sign of a very serious illness called Ifristolocatecacheness, Symptoms include checking for new caches every two hours. Keeping a GPS and Pocket PC hooked up to a computer for fast down loads. Having a pack ready to go by the door with extra batteries and three flashlights. Never taking your shoes off so that you can leaving in a matter of seconds. Panic attacks from not having internet access for more than 15 minutes. Not knowing which direction to have your car facing when you park it. Thinking the person in the car in front of you is going to get to the cache first. Being afraid to take a vacation because someone might get a FTF in your area while you are gone.

 

Yes we may need a 12 steps program for those the suffer from Ifristolocatecacheness.

 

I have to go now, I think I parked my truck I the wrong direction and I have not check for any new caches today.

Let see....

 

I have a bag immediately next to me with GPS, flashlight, spare batteries, TB's, cell phone and trade items.

 

I have my own PC at work in which I often check the cache listings for new hides.

 

I have been know to take a couple hours of personal time in the middle of the work day to go grab a new one that just appeared.

 

I set my alarm clock for 3AM to check for any new listings that I can grab in the early morning darkness before work..

 

Every single car on the road ahead of me is a potential cacher whose trying to steal my FTF away from me.

 

Am I infected?

[+Smitherington]

I remember being frustrated after not being able to find a cache on my 4th attempt so I emailed a recent finder. I asked him if he could meet me to tell me what I was doing wrong. Instead, he told me to go find another one which was rated 1/1. And he said to look for the tree. Well, only one tree out there and there it was under the tree. I was geeked. So maybe post a note and see if someone can suggest a particularly easy one to build up your confidence.

 

Good luck and happy caching.

[+Shuecrew]

Oh man... I understand completely. Luckily, I found my first 5 caches like a breeze... I couldn't believe how easy it was. Riiiiiiight... I've been unable to find the last 5 I've tried. One of them was stolen, but still, it's a good thing this didn't happen to me before I found any, or I would have probably quite and had a brand new Garmin eTrex collecting dust. All I can say is just keep trying... I seem to find the micros with the least amount of difficulty!

[+DuncanClan]

We (the kids and I) did our first "night" caching adventure night yesterday. It was originally light when we started...the pacific NW gets dark pretty early, and by the time we finally found it, it was dark.

 

We're pretty new to the hobby, and I like many on this thread have already said, it's hard enough in the daylight sometimes!

 

Post your equipment and your methods, and many here will be able to help.

 

DC

[+captnemo]

First try during the daylight.

 

Next try some 1/1 caches.

 

Decode the hint before hand.

 

Read the logs, they sometimes give hints or different

 

Follow the arrow on your GPSr till it turns you around, then switch to the coordinates and move around until they read the same as the caches sheet.

 

Stop looking at the little screen and look for logs, piles of rocks etc. Try thinking like you had hid the cache."Where could you have put it?"

 

Have fun, Have fun, Have fun. Repeat this step.