...Hunting laws are made by close association with game biologist. They know whats best for the health and numbers in any given location. This applies to all species. Simply do not kill what is not allowed and the animals and game birds will thrive.
As a general statement, I hope that is true. Unfortunately it may not always be the case.
Here in Minnesota, our deer population a few years ago was so low that screaming hunters finally caused our legislature to perform an audit of our DNRs processes. In short, it wasn't pretty for our DNR who was apparently working more for farmers and insurance companies to absolutely minimize the herd an ignoring the ones that pay their salaries...a major stakeholder.
In another example, in my area that is very heavily hunted for small game, the grey/fox squirrel population was nearly decimated, mostly by Hmong hunters that are very good at it, but the limits are just too large, so legal harvest was actually gross over harvest. The Hmongs complained and the DNR did a three year study. I stayed in touch with the lead biologist. I read his paper at the end of the study which concluded that the squirrel population on state lands in the area were so low it was at tipping point where it might not ever recover. He made several recommendations to the DNR HQ bureacracy for season reductions and harvest limitation. He was very frustrated when the response he got was "The season has always been the way it is and we don't want to change it." WHAT?! They wasted funding and resource for three years for a predetermined result. So while the biologist knew what needed to be done, the bureaucrats refused to act on it.
These examples are the reasons I tell other hunters that taking the legal harvest might actually be harmful. Just because the state says a hunter can take X number of game, birds, or fish doesn't mean they should if everything they see in the field says otherwise. Sometimes those of us that spend lots of time in the field year around know more than desk jockey DNR bureaucrats who spend almost no time in the field or are gutless to take action.