I know this has been covered, as far as tanning your own hides, making stuff etc.
While all this is fine, most of it deals with small animals, deer and rare elk or so, but in truth most of the leather is pretty much useless unless you make clothes. (buckskin).

I have made buckskin, rawhide, a couple of rabbits with hair on.
Most came out O.K. made war shirts, drawers, etc from the buckskin, used the rawhide to bind things and make a canoe chair.

But for bags, pouches, sheathes, belts, moccasins, and such, you need thicker leather. Cow hide, buffalo hide etc.

I have gotten around the flimsy buckskin for bags, by backing them with some purchased shaved cow hide, just to hold shape, and not look like a bag of marbles.

The hide on the neck of a deer is thicker, and have made moc's from it, but added a cow hide sole.

Most of the leather I have used for my mountain gear came from a couple of cow hides, bought them in haves, hard to find, so were purchased at Rendezvous.

So has anyone made leather from a cow hide?

Also, if your going to fool around doing any "Home tanning", don't do it near other people, has an oder all on it's own.