Seeking a Geocache

Hints and Tips for those Seeking Geocaches in Delaware
(For Hints and Tips for those Placing a Geocache, click Placing a Geocache at the left.)

Be sure to read the full description of the site including the encrypted hint, and the logs. Often you will find additional information about the site in the comments.

The Title of a cache site often contains hints. There may a pun or two in there that add clues to the site location.

Don't forget to have fun! Yes, finding a geocache is a challenge. But take time to look around at the area your find yourself in. The creator of this geocache site picked it for a good reason. Maybe this is someplace you'd like to visit again just for the sheer pleasure of being there.

Track Up Map Orientation is sometimes easier to use than North Up orientation. Track up puts your direction of travel at the top of your GPS display window. Some people find this helpful since it make the orientation of your GPS window match the actual surroundings.

Bring along a good compass. Even though your Gps has a built in compass, many of them work only while you are moving. If you need to stop the compass disappears. Also if you need to into a forest or any place where there is some kind of "roof" over your head, your GPS may not be able to receive a signal. A regular compass can keep you headed in the correction direction.

Leave the geocache site area as undisturbed as possible. You had a lot of fun finding the cache. Leave the site so that others will not know you've been there unless they read the log book. Then they can have as much fun as you did

When choosing an object to leave as a trade in a cache container never leave food or objects with food-like odors. Animal noses are much more sensitive than humans noses. Animals in the wild have to hunt for everything they eat. They will do amazing things to get at something that appears to be tasty. The cache container might become a casualty.

Sign both the cache site log book and the on-line log book. After a day's geocaching get in the habit of logging in to geocaching.com and posting your finds.

The next four hints were submitted by Joe Wessels

Put cell phones in your pocket, carry bag or on a lanyard when caching in the woods. I was out looking for the last part of the "Points at Stratham Farm" cache yesterday and walked back to a spot I had been and discovered my cell phone on the ground. Without my being aware of it, at some point in my search, the cell phone holder belt clip slipped off my belt and the cell phone had fallen to the ground - unnoticed. This is the 2nd time this has happened to me over a 2-year period.
The 1st time, another geo-caching came along after I had left the area. He found it laying there. When he got to the parking lot, I introduced myself and asked him what he thought of the cache. I was the FTF and only beat him by a few minutes.  He surprised me by holding up my cell phone and saying he found it at the cache so it must be mine.  I thanked him and we chatted some about caching and then left. 
My motto is "two is a trend", so with this being the 2nd time I have had a cell phone come off my belt, I figure it's time to do something different.  I can always use the money I'd have to spend for a replacement cell phone for something else instead (more geo gear).

Allow ample time to find the cache. The GPS distance indicated is straight-line and many times there are twists & turns and other features that will add to the time to get to the cache (not to mention the time to find it once you are in the area).

Have a spare set of batteries to offset Murphy's Law.

Mark the location of your car before you leave for the cache. Sounds simple, but glad I did it on a couple of occasions when my batteries died on me (see above).