Searched Florida Found Nothing

[anseo]

So, I went and signed up on geocaching on saturday. went and bought an etrex on sunday. and went hunting sunday night with my friend Mike. I live in Oviedo, FL. So my cache sites of choice were Cyrptography History and Evil Monkey.

 

What type of thing do people usually leave at a cache site? I found nothing. Maybe i'm looking for the wrong thing?

 

i got lost. that was the most fun last night.

 

i'll try again this weekened. Maybe pick an easier cache site.

[+SeventhSon]

Maybe pick an easier cache site.

That might be best. Start with a low difficulty rating to get the feel of it.

 

And ... welcome aboard

 

7

[+briansnat]

You chose 2 & 3 star difficulty caches. The definition of a 3 star difficulty cache is as follows:

Challenging. An experienced cache hunter will find this challenging, and it could take up a good portion of an afternoon.

 

You should start with 1, or 1.5 star difficulty caches. Micros are tough to start out with.

 

Another mistake that novices make is that they rely too much on the GPS. Your GPS is usually only accurate to between 15 and 30 feet. When you factor in that the cache hider's GPS also had the same margin of error, the cache could be 40, 50 or 60+ feet from where your GPS is telling you it is.

 

Most experienced geocachers will put away their GPS when it reads approximately 40 feet and start looking for clues. First the obvious ones, like hollow stumps, down trees, crevices in rocks. Then look for something out of place like unnatural piles of sticks, bark, leaves or rocks.

 

The above doesn't really apply for micros, as they are usually cleverly hidden and often well camoflaged. For micros you often have to resort to feeling and/or looking under and around things. They are very often magnetic, so the first place I look for is some metal that it might be attached to.

Edited December 13, 2004 by briansnat

[+ValleyRat & TillyMouse]

Although the theoretical worst case (40-50') with both hider and finder GPS showing an accuracy of 20-plus feet, we've been pretty lucky.

 

Not as much experience as many on the forum, but we've only had a couple of DNF's and finally did find those after returning -- 5 times on one, 3 times on another, and those were due to innovative hides, not coord inaccuracy.

 

In every case of our 35 finds, the cache has been within 10' of our Legend's indicated Lat/Lon. We do spend at least 15 minutes walking around the area, giving the GPSr plenty of time to "settle down." It's also important that WAAS be enabled on the GPSr.

 

So despite the chance that the cache COULD be 40-50' off, if the cacher has a pretty good GPSr, IMO it's pessimistic to expect it to be found that far off.

 

No flames from you oldtimers, please; I'm sure it's just beginner's luck.

[+Jamie Z]

This sounds like a case of inexperience, and not directly from poor coordinates.

 

Our new geocacher simply didn't know what to look for. As Brian suggested, find a cache rated few stars in the difficulty.

 

My first two hunts came away with DNFs because I just had no idea what I was looking for.

 

Anseo, be sure to log your tries online, it's good etiquette, then try for a few easier ones to start. Once you have a general idea of what to look for, you'll catch on quick. Many people falsely expect their GPS to lead them straight to the cache, but it's rarely that easy. The GPS only gets you to the general area. Then you need to stop looking at the screen, and begin thinking how or where you might hide something somewhere nearby.

 

Jamie

[+tirediron]

Perhaps post into your regional/local forum and see if you can hook up with a more experienced 'cacher. That way you can get out and 'see' what you are actually looking for.

 

Typically a traditional 'cache will be something like a military surplus ammo box (often painted camoflauge colours) or a shoe-box or smaller size tupper-ware style container.

 

Read the 'cache description carefully, as often the hider will tell you what type of container he/she has hidden. Knowing that can eliminate a lot of hiding spots.... Micro 'caches are often 35mm film cannisters, or the magnetic "hide-a-key" containers, or other small boxes.

 

Good luck!

[+briansnat]

If you post a DNF (which you should), some owners may even send you an additional hint.

[+Anonymous']

Welcome to Geocaching!