Think Duck Dynasty meets Grand Designs. Merge the two television programmes, set them in the Maniototo with John Smith and Johnny Girvan in the leading roles and time it for the opening weekend of the duck-shooting season.
Then you'll get some idea of the ''mai mai war'' between the two in-laws.
In one corner is Mr Smith, known as ''Smithy'', in his tanalised-post mai mai at Wedderburn.
Solid construction is one of the features of this mai mai and the interior contains an eclectic mix, for the entertainment of the dozen or so ''invited guests''.
The contents include a barbecue, bacon and chops, a notebook to jot down the tallies and ''any antics of the day'', spare batteries for the robot decoy ducks and claybird targets.
''We always have a claybird shoot in the afternoon of opening day. We like to add in a bit of extra competition between the boys,'' Mr Smith says.
In the other corner is Mr Smith's brother-in-law Mr Girvan, known as ''Girv'', in a mai mai built from hay bales on his Naseby farm.
The basic construction serves him and his six fellow shooters well and the mai mai can be easily disassembled after the season is over.
He favours the minimalist style of interior decoration, apart from a couple of armchairs - ''for when you sit here and wait ... and wait ... ''
Both mai mais have a new gadget in common, a metal ''breaster'' for removing the duck breast meat.
The rivalry between the two groups is good-natured and they have introduced a trophy this year, for the pond that scores the most ducks on opening day.
''We all meet up at the end of the day and tell a lot of lies about the numbers we've shot,'' Mr Girvan says.
Mr Smith might already have the edge over his rival. He estimated there were about 300 ducks covering the pond on Thursday - ''it was just black with them''.
Like the Maniototo men, hunters throughout the region have been putting finishing touches to their carefully camouflaged mai mais this week.
A vast array of designs feature, from the basic through to more palatial hides.
Wanaka sports shop owner Mark Sanders says his two-seat portable mai mai has proven popular not only with last-minute duck-shooting shoppers, but also bird watchers.
It has two comfortable seats, and provision for natural foliage to be added to improve the camouflage effect.
Further south, Jimmy Berney's no-nonsense mai mai on his Owaka sheep and beef farm seats four comfortably, but offers neither bells, nor whistles.
Mr Berney will be joined by fellow Owakans John Niles and Chris Bennett and Wally Melvin, of Balclutha, this morning to hopefully kill some of the about 30 ducks that have been hanging around the pond this week.
