Would you pick an owl for low level tracking?

[silverwolfer]

If you were a chracter using wild co hort, and you wanted someone to supplement your anti stealth skills, would you pick an owl or something else?

[Piggy Knowles]

I would pick something with Scent, probably a dog.

[Malroth]

Dire bat, flying mount with built in sonar

[silverwolfer]

that ..is a tad bit...big lol

[tiercel]

I'd probably be most tempted to take an owl or a hawk if I was a ranger trading away my subpar animal companion for an Urban Companion (WotC online supplement) (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a), basically a familiar -- then it gets all your ranger-y skill ranks PLUS its racial bonuses. That's a tasty meatball. (And you don't care about your effective druid level being weak so much because the Urban Companion has your skill ranks and 3/4 your hit points regardless, so it still improves in those regards even if you PrC out of ranger.)

Wild Cohort is more like animal companion than a familiar; it's not that it can't help (especially at low levels) for detection, but I would pick something as a combat sidekick with a little bit of detection (e.g. Scent on a riding dog) rather than a "skillmonkey" Wild Cohort which just can't keep up.

If you really want a skillmonkey companion, you probably want to figure out if you can squeeze in a familiar (or psicrystal) type critter that has all those skill ranks.

[ArcturusV]

It entirely is based on setting, character, and particulars for me if I would choose an Owl over say, a wolf, or a bat. An avian like an Owl, or a Falcon, is a lot more autonomous when it actually comes to the game. They don't have to be anywhere near the "Blast Zone" to be able to help you and can be your eyes in the sky, they aren't very conspicuous unless you demand on doing things like walking into the Lord's Manor with an Owl perched on your shoulders. Or are in a setting where there is a practical zero percent chance of the animal in particular showing up (Owl in an Underdark campaign, compared to having some sort of bat or maybe lizard).

Things like wolves and dogs... they can't really do their thing long range. If you are tracking by Scent, the Dog is going to be fairly close to you (And your target if you're counting on Scent Detection). If you get into a fight the dog is a target and can be taken out quite easily once you get out of the 1-2 level encounters. They're very obvious and always stick out like a sore thumb, marking you as a Ranger/Druid/Wilderness Character. And eventually you'll have those moments where you wish you could just Pokeball them so you only have them out when you need them... but they can't really go far away because they have no rapid means of getting where you need them, when you need them.

[TuggyNE]

And eventually you'll have those moments where you wish you could just Pokeball them so you only have them out when you need them... but they can't really go far away because they have no rapid means of getting where you need them, when you need them.

Speaking of pokeballs, I discovered this wacky armor enhancement (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/magic-armor/magic-armor-and-shield-special-abilities/hosteling) the other day by chance in the PFSRD.