The Fish & Game Council says Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson's decision to remove the hunting restrictions on Canada geese will backfire on her.
Ms Wilkinson says Fish & Game has not been adequately managing the birds, so she is giving landowners the go-ahead to cull them themselves.
The council's Nelson-Marlborough manager, Neil Deans, says Canada geese are extremely mobile and hard to control.
He says landowners will probably find that managing their numbers is more difficult than they imagined.
Mr Dean says the council will not be involved in any co-ordinated approach with farmers to cull the migratory birds.
