Hal, I think that buffalo were very plentiful in the Blackbelt until sometime in the 18th century. The Creeks and the Chickasaw tribes controlled the land through that time and the accounts I've read mentioned them using the robes and other products they got from them. Of course, there were whitetails and elk too. It is still great land for whitetails and people buy some of the tracts for no purpose except hunting them.
Both tribes developed close trading relationships with the English traders during that time, and they wiped the deer out of much of the Blackbelt by the time of the American revolution. The elk and buffalo were both completely gone by then.
I have read more than one account that said that the tribes of the 18th century did their burning in late winter and early spring, the same time that it's usually done now. I don't suppose anyone really knows about the ones that were before them, as they seem to have been a completely different people group
I have a forester friend who does a lot of summer burns under the big pines to eliminate the hardwood competition. It seems to be very effective at eliminating the sweetgums that try to dominate the understory in our pine forests. Quail really benefit from these type of burns.
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