Duck hunters are camping on Aboriginal cooking mounds and cutting culturally significant trees for firewood, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.

Speaking at a hearing into Victoria’s native bird hunting, Boort historian and museum owner Paul Haw showed pictures of duck carcasses left to rot around Boort Lake.

“This is what the tourists have to face, while I’m doing tours around the wetlands,” Mr Haw told the inquiry.

“Some people are so upset, especially schoolchildren.”

He said Boort, in Victoria’s north, had the most culturally significant stone-scarred trees in the world.

Liberal MP Bev McArthur questioned whether there was proof hunters were behind the acts.

“You’ve shown us evidence of scar trees being decimated. Do you have actual evidence it was duck shooters?” Ms McArthur said.

Mr Haw replied: “Well there’s no one else there when the duck season’s on, so it’s pretty obvious”.

First Peoples Assembly member Paul Murray said some hunters probably didn’t know they were cutting down sacred trees.

“They get cold and will cut up a tree and they don’t know what they’re doing,” Mr Murray told the inquiry.

He claimed the traditional owner game management strategy had been proposed without proper consultation with Victoria’s 38 nations and 300 clans.

“Not one group I’m in have been consulted or negotiated with or given consent to duck shooting on our country,” Mr Murray said.

“Everybody I talk to says no.”

Dja Dja Warrung Group chief executive Rodney Carter said instances of cultural heritage destruction were terrible, but maintained broad support for duck hunting.

“There’s a lot of other types of legally sanctioned regulated activities that create more harm to my heritage,” Mr Carter told the inquiry.

Electrical Trades Union state secretary Troy Gray earlier said any duck hunting ban in Victoria would trigger a walk-off on projects across the state.

“If there is a decision to ban duck hunting – the day that that decision is made or the day after – the major infrastructure projects in this state will shut down,” Mr Gray said.

In March, about 800 ETU members walked off the job at Victoria’s Metro Tunnel project in defence of outdoor activities after the duck hunting season was shortened in February.

Mr Gray said outdoor recreation was crucial to construction workers and members had complained state-owned areas for camping, horse riding, rock climbing and gold prospecting had been cut in recent years.

Animal Justice Party upper house MP Georgie Purcell questioned how a duck hunting ban would stop people enjoying other activities in the great outdoors.

“You’re talking about four-wheel-driving, camping, fishing, none of that has been banned or is in any way under threat,” Ms Purcell said.

Mr Gray said there was a public sentiment the government had taken a heavy hand regulating public recreation in Victoria.

“We’re gating the bush, we’re gating the coastlines and working-class people are not falling for it any more,” he said.

The Victorian government said the state’s varying and deeply held views on the subject were the reason for the inquiry.

“We’ll wait for the committee to do their work, which is due back to government by the end of August,” a state government spokesman told AAP in a statement.

-AAP