Dozens of dead native birds have been dumped outside Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' office as debate heats up on the future of duck shooting.
In keeping with a long-running annual tradition, the Coalition Against Duck Shooting on Tuesday displayed recovered birds that were shot and killed following the opening of the shooting season.
The coalition laid out 73 birds, including eight illegally shot protected and threatened species.
Wildlife Victoria chief executive Lisa Palma said most of the recovered birds had gunshot pellets in their bodies, forcing vets to euthanise all those still alive.
"We have provided all of our veterinary evidence and X-ray material to the Game Management Authority (GMA) for further investigation," she said.
The coalition said shooters had shown "blatant disregard" for protected and threatened species and admonished the regulator.
"The recreational shooting of native waterbirds must be abolished," campaign director Laurie Levy said.
"The GMA enthusiastically concentrated on prosecuting volunteers who were rescuing wounded native waterbirds, instead of working to ensure threatened species weren't shot."
The demonstration outside Treasury Place has its origins in 1986 when Victorian politicians refused to join rescuers on the wetlands to see the sanctioned "carnage", according to Mr Levy.
Animal Justice MP Georgie Purcell brought a freckled duck, one of the rarest water birds in Australia, to state parliament that she said was left for dead after being shot.
"These birds are just a small sample of the ones that would have been wounded or killed and left behind, which is an offence," she said.
Ms Purcell was among eight members of a parliamentary inquiry into duck shooting who converged on a game reserve near Geelong on Wednesday to observe the opening of the shorter five-week season.
The committee has already received 1700 submissions and is due to publish its final report by August 31.
The premier declined to pre-empt the committee's findings and encouraged anybody with knowledge of wrongdoing to report it to the GMA, which he said already had significant resources to enforce the rules.
"I'm confident that the Game Management Authority will act," he said.
Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania are the only states where duck shooting is permitted after Western Australia, NSW and Queensland banned the practice.