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Once a species is declared extinct, is it legal to hunt?

I realize this may sound like a weird question, but I'm curious if there had ever been mistakes like this, with a lack of protection leading to actual accidental extinction.

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Hunting laws in general vary state by state but for the most part you can’t just go out and kill any random thing flying around. There generally has to be some sort of formal designation that a species can be hunted. Otherwise don’t kill it.

There's absolutely nothing stopping me from killing ants, or even stopping my cat from killing rats. Hunting is regulated, but it's not all species by default.

What law on the books says that it is legal for me to kill a dragonfly?

If there's not already a case in the books, that simply goes to show that we have done a good job not mislabeling species as extinct. The Endangered Species Act surely still applies, if anything the punishment would be more severe.

This question is absurd.

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