Why would hunter/gatherers want to write down the mating and birthing seasons of animals? Wouldn’t they just go kill animals as needed?
Well I’d rather not hunt during the prey’s mating season. YMMV.
Animals become easier to hunt during mating season.
As for births, assuming the ancients didn’t have modern age restrictions on harvesting the young, that is also a time when the mothers and their offspring are more vulnerable.
You aren't a hunter, are you?
Even modern hunters do well to pay attention to the rutting cycle, etc. of their prey.
Regards,
Why would hunter/gatherers want to write down the mating and birthing seasons of animals? Wouldn’t they just go kill animals as needed?
—
Because they were not stupid? They valued their local resources and, to have it your way, they would soon kill off all the game in the area and have to move elsewhere.
Like all people today who harvest natural resources - they are better stewards than city folk who know little to nothing about preserving resources and attribute their lack of understanding to those whose lives and livelihoods depend on the continuation of the resource.
Deer hunters today hunt deer when they rut (mating season)... a time when the bucks are much less wary of humans because they are focused on competing males.
If you are hunting even larger animals, it may be less risky to hunt when there are many calves not yet full-sized.
The mating season of some game birds is followed by a period in which they are rendered flightless briefly while molting in advance of growing new feathers for migration.
Hunters are typically very interested in the life cycles of the animals they hunt.
Knowing when they birth offspring might give then an advantage to taking game. Knowing when they rut might offer the same advantage.
You would think the Hunters would commit to memory that animals give birth in the Spring
https://worlddeer.org/when-do-deer-give-birth/
Perhaps they had ideas of preserving game so wuld time their hunt for particular species so as not interfere with natural increase of their game prey. If so it would indicae that they were not living on the edge of famine.