Skin what you killed
Skinning adds leather to beasts already on the route and already dead. It needs no new pull or terrain detour when you skin your own kills.
What it provides
Steady gold in beast-heavy zones. Hunter and Druid routes have regular targets, and Thick Leather around level 40 sells reliably.
Leatherworking fuel for permanent armor kits: +24 armor per slot at the Heavy tier, then crafted leather and mail coverage.
A clean secondary slot beside Herbalism or Mining when the main plan is Alchemy or Engineering. Drop it later if the second crafting slot earns its way in.
Who benefits
Hunter and Druid have regular beast targets, and Shaman also fits the route. Priest, Mage, and Warlock spend more time in humanoid territory, where Skinning provides much less.
The lane rule
Skin your own kills in front of you. Do not cross a camp to skin another player’s corpse. A respawn can turn that detour into two uncertain pulls.
Keep the knife relevant
Keep Skinning near the creature level. A level-40 beast needs roughly 200 skill. Miss the band and you lose leather from the kills that already carried the risk.
Keep the route safe
Leave the leather when it requires an uncertain pull or puts a respawn behind you.