The Macnab

by Greg Nasmyth on Thursday 3rd of December 2009

Could a first time shot bag himself the coveted Highland Macnab? Lusso editor, Greg Nasmyth heads to the highlands to see if John Buchan's Macnab is still possible.

Then, through the swirls of rain, I see it,...the stag, some 100 metres distant.

"Doing a Macnab ‘merely’ involves bagging a brace of grouse, catching a salmon and stalking a stag between the hours of sunrise and sunset."

The distinctive plumage of a highland grouse.

First blood, the attempt to complete the Macnab started well on the first day but then the going got problematic.

"Bordered to the north by the River Dee, the Cairngorms National Park to the west and the Grampian Mountains to the south and east, the Glen Tanar Estate stands in a forested glen, the forest of Glen Tanar, an Ancient Wood of Caledon."

"It was the spry Colin who met me, resplendent in Glen Tanar tweed, at the foot of the glen, with three springer spaniels, to commence the first part of the Lusso Macmaiden, a ‘walk -up’ the northern slope of Mount Keen."

"Having made our way up the steep sides of East Blackburn, a small burn and sharp gulley named after the black, peaty water that runs through it, we turned and headed back, over the more forgiving upper reaches."

Colin Espie’s Land Rover with Candycraig cottage in the background.

"You have three seconds from when a bird takes flight, three seconds in which to find and remove the safety, raise the weapon, aim and fire before the bird is out of range."

"Apparently a salmon will take a hooked worm no problem but the Scots, as ever, thought this no sport at all, so, in their whisky wisdom, deemed to take something essentially simple and make it infuriatingly difficult and invented fly fishing..."

"Macfate works in mysterious ways: it was now near dark when I realised that, even by my casting standards, my last cast had been woeful, the fly and line not even returning over my shoulder, when it dawned on me that maybe there was something on the end of it."

Partick Thistle covering the lower slopes of Glen Tanar’s Mount Keen

A couple of flies, reputably capable of landing the elusive salmon if deployed correctly.

"We rise up from the firing position. It feels strange to be on my feet again. ‘Walk behind me and ready the gun,’ orders Fergus, ‘you never know with a stag."

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The Macnab

Issue 24 Out Now

On Paper, iPhone, iPad and web