When deciding whether or not to issue Locate orders for your scouts, rather than standard Patrol orders, it's important to bear in mind a few things:
Locate is an overtly offensive mission, implying an intent to attack. This could violate your combat moratorium if you are still new. Suppression and Security are inherently Defensive activities, so will not violate the moratorium.
If your scouts successfully Locate another unit, and survive any Suppression attempts, they will lead the Warriors you have assigned to Defense to the hex where the located unit is currently. Any battle which ensues will be conducted in that terrain. So, if you located into a Low Jungle Mountain, for instance, you'll want to consider which troop types and equipment will best serve your needs. Also, take into account the weather....if it is raining, your bows wont be much help, for example.
While Locate implies an intent to attack, both sides will still have the option to Defend. If both sides issue Defend orders, no combat will take place.
However, this is not a "failsafe" option if you happened to blindly locate a much more powerful unit....they could very well opt to issue Attack orders, and pull you into a battle you may not actually want to fight.
Use caution when issuing Locate orders, and be ready for a worst-case scenario.