# Geocaching



## msjjd (Feb 3, 2013)

Thinking of getting in to this with the kids At the state parks is a gps required and what kind do we need? Do we need one for each child?


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## jonkayak (Feb 3, 2013)

You only need one and some smart phones can work as a GPS as well.


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## ngabowhunter (Feb 3, 2013)

Geocaching is alot of fun. You will be amazed at how many geocaches you have already driven or walked past not knowing they were there. Your GPS will get you close to the Geocache, bur there will still be some searching involved. It all depends on how good a signal the hider had and how good a signal you have. Many times you may have to use the hint provided and sometimes you may not find it at all. Any GPS will do, although if you really get into it you may want upgrade to one that has GPS specific features built into it.


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## 7Mag Hunter (Feb 4, 2013)

We found an ammo can under a rock outcrop in the N Ga Mtns that
contained a Geocaching log and small items (pens, feathers, small toys )
 that were left by Geocachers who located the box before us.....
We signed log and left an empty 12ga shotgun shell because we were turkey
hunting.........Cache was about 3 yrs old and had been found by 25 or
30 Geos......

I have run across quite a few folks on NF and even WMAs who were
using handheld GPS to locate caches......


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## greg_n_clayton (Feb 4, 2013)

Garmin e-trex will work. You just can't manually load waypoints into it. You have to use software at geocaching.com to send the info. to them after you choose which one/ones you want to go after.


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## coyotebgone (Feb 4, 2013)

*Geo Caching*

We love it, its a way to get out.  Exercise and spend time doin nothing. 

Some of these things are hard to find.


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## Dr. Strangelove (Feb 4, 2013)

Geocaching is a lot of fun and good way to learn about unfamiliar areas, or even new aspects of areas you already know.  I've seen all kinds of interesting things I never would have known were there otherwise.

The geocaching iPhone apps work OK, especially this time of year, but can be pretty inaccurate, more so when the leaves come back out.

If you get into it, you're going to want a real GPS soon.   I personally recommend Garmin,  I have the 550t and love it, though it's a bit pricey.  Any basic model will work, the pricer ones just have more bells and whistles.  I've seen the entry level Garmin eTrex for about $70.00 at Academy Sports.


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## msjjd (Feb 4, 2013)

Thanks everyone for all your help


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## jonesey (Feb 4, 2013)

I use a Magellan Explorist 310 , it comes with 1000 caches loaded on it and its easy to use .. Just a warning once you start geocaching you will be addicted , its a great way to get the kids out in the woods .. Me and son do it every weekend ...


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## Crickett (Feb 6, 2013)

We've found a few around us! The kids love it! Here's a link to the geocaching website. I like it b/c you can put in your exact location & it will find caches that are near you. 

http://www.geocaching.com/


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## Cricket Chunker (Feb 11, 2013)

A lot of the cell phones have poor GPS units in them.  Look at your sat data screen and see what your EPE or position error readings are.  The lower, the better.  If you never see yours under 10 meters, it will suck at geocaching.  A good handheld GPS is often capable of 1 meter accuracy.  The more accurate your GPS the closer to the cache location you will be when you start the visual hunt.  I've seen some cell phones that often 300' or more EPE and that would be useless in a cache hunt.  Error readings will vary depending how many satellites are visible so you might want to check it a few times at different times and locations before discrediting a phone with a high EPE reading.  Also even with a good hand held you signal under dense trees starts to fall off so you want the best receiver you can get.  It will make the hunt more enjoyable if you can actually find the caches instead of using a poor GPS that get's you to only within 300' of the location.


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## Chum (Feb 12, 2013)

How about a list of good geocaching cell phones?


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## LongStrangeTrip (Feb 15, 2013)

I use a geocache app on my iphone. there are alot of caches hidden all around town too. if you are ever traveling, it is amazing how many things you can explore.


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## msjjd (Feb 16, 2013)

Do I need one for each kid or will one do?


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## jonesey (Feb 16, 2013)

just one gps will do ..


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## msjjd (Feb 16, 2013)

I can't wait till warm weather gets here I am ready for us do some camping!


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## Cricket Chunker (Feb 20, 2013)

Chum said:


> How about a list of good geocaching cell phones?



All of the i-phones I've seen have excellent GPS modules in them.  I had a newer droid at work that was good also.  But the lower end phone usually do not have great GPS.

There should be a screen you can view in the phone that will show you the satellite data and usually has the position error info.  Pretty much any phone will have this.  Lower number is better, but even a good GPS can have poor reception of the signal every now and then.  I would drive out to somewhere open like a parking lot and see what you get. A hand held GPS will also have this same data screen.

I've still got 2 Magellan Meridians I've had for nearly 10 years and they are good for 6' accuracy on any given day.  Many a cache has been found using those.

There is also a way to use a Garmin Nuvi car GPS as a "paperless" cache tool.  When we go on vacation, I usually load up a bunch of caches for the areas we will be in on a SD card and import them into the Nuvi.  As I drive around you see little cache symbols on the screen and can also get the cache description info on the Nuvi.  

Two things I highly recommend for anyone doing geocaching would be a paid premium subscription to the geocaching.com website ($30 per year) and a copy of GSAK (Geocache Swiss Army Knife) software ($30 to activate your download trail version).

Geocaching.com

GSAK geocaching tool

You can see most of the cache info for free on the geocaching website, but if you want to download files to import into you GPS you need a subscription.  GSAK is the software that converts the downloaded files into your GPS model specific versions and also manages your found caches.

If you don't already have a GPS, you don't have to get a $500 model, but you do want a unit that has a SD or micro-SD card slot so you can move data around.  There are a lot of the 5 to 10 year old B&W models out there 2nd hand that are just fine.  If you find one with a street map database, that is even better.  But if you have a Nuvi (or Magellan) car GPS you can use one to get you close and the other to get you to the cache on foot.

Its addictive.....  So you've been warned


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## SarahFair (Mar 12, 2013)

Neat! We have a good few within just a few miles from the house..
The boys will love it and I like it because some of them come with some rich history behind them as well!


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## jonesey (Mar 13, 2013)

Warning Sarah . You will become addicted . Lol its awesome for the kids  .though


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## SarahFair (Mar 14, 2013)

jonesey said:


> Warning Sarah . You will become addicted . Lol its awesome for the kids  .though



haha yeah, they have school off tomorrow and I already told them we are going..


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## Cricket Chunker (Mar 14, 2013)

Here is a tip.  Also take a hand held compass with you.  Does not have to be expensive, just a compass.

If you are having trouble finding a cache, stand still and let your GPS average the position data (for higher accuracy).  Then look at the bearing to the cache on your GPS and make a mental note of the EPE (estimated position error).  Then use the compass to eyeball a line along that bearing.    Then walk in a diagonal from the line you just eyeballed but towards the cache direction.   Stop and repeat the same process.  Where the two eyeballed lines meet will be very close to the cache location.  If the EPE was 10' think of a 10' circle centered on that location as your search area. Remember it's ESTIMATED position error, but it's usually very close.  When you do this you are triangulating from two points on the cache position.  This works well under heavy tree cover where you often have less of an accurate position due to the lower satellite signal strength.

I have buddies who use their i-phone and satellite maps to find caches but that's like cheating (it's too easy).

Another item to have is either a hiking staff or good wooden walking stick.  A lot of caches are put in stump holes in the woods and covered with leaves.  You can poke around with a stick or staff and hear the "thunk" when you tap the concealed cache.  Beats reaching into a stump hole with you hand and finding a snake!!!  Yes I have done that before.  I now use a metal collapsible hiking staff I got at Walmart for about $20 (and it even has a very small compass in the top of the handle).  It also helps for those caches in the woods where you are walking on uneven terrain to get to the cache.  Before I had one I had been known to slide down a the side of ditch or two looking for a cache.


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## Dr. Strangelove (Mar 15, 2013)

Cricket Chunker said:


> Here is a tip.  Also take a hand held compass with you.  Does not have to be expensive, just a compass.
> 
> If you are having trouble finding a cache, stand still and let your GPS average the position data (for higher accuracy).  Then look at the bearing to the cache on your GPS and make a mental note of the EPE (estimated position error).  Then use the compass to eyeball a line along that bearing.    Then walk in a diagonal from the line you just eyeballed but towards the cache direction.   Stop and repeat the same process.  Where the two eyeballed lines meet will be very close to the cache location.  If the EPE was 10' think of a 10' circle centered on that location as your search area. Remember it's ESTIMATED position error, but it's usually very close.  When you do this you are triangulating from two points on the cache position.  This works well under heavy tree cover where you often have less of an accurate position due to the lower satellite signal strength.
> 
> ...



Good advice, especially the pokey stick.  Most of the old school catches were metal US Army ammo cans, but that's kind of faded now and the majority of new catches are Tupperware of some sort. (Note to cache hiders - metal ammo cans keep out moisture much more effectively, after all, that's their whole purpose)  

My advice is when you get within twenty feet or so on the GPS, just stop and look around.  Think where would YOU hide something in this area.  After you've done it for a while, the spots just kind of stand out because people tend to hide things in similar places.  Hollows in trees, along/under downed trees, rock-piles, etc.  Just look for anything that kind of stands out in the area.  

You can buy Geo-Tags for a trifling sum, it allows you to attach a "Dog-tag" to an object (GI Joe man, Barbie Doll, McDonald's toy, cat figurine, whatever) and see how far people move it.  You track it on your computer after that on www.geocaching.com.  You don't have to own a cache to do this, just put a tag on an object and set a goal for it.  I picked up one near Elder Mill Covered Bridge that wanted to go to Australia and it made it in about three months.  If you do pick one up, be sure that you move it on.

The only negative thing I have to say is that some of the catches can be in a grey area as far as private land and your permission to be on said land, unless it's expressly mentioned in the description that the landowner knows and is OK, I usually give those a pass.


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## Cricket Chunker (Mar 20, 2013)

Dr. Strangelove said:


> The only negative thing I have to say is that some of the catches can be in a grey area as far as private land and your permission to be on said land, unless it's expressly mentioned in the description that the landowner knows and is OK, I usually give those a pass.



One of the guys I used to work with used to tell the story about a cache in the middle of a mine field in Iraq shortly after it was liberated.  

How's that for a cache difficulty level?


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## msjjd (Apr 6, 2013)

Found my first cache today then my son found it on his own we be hooked


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