A Sporting Century of The Macnab

They depart London, take-up residence on a friend’s Scottish estate and write to each neighbour anonymously, under the pseudonym ‘John Macnab’, that they intend to poach from them a salmon or a stag in the next 48 hours and if successful will make a donation to charity. The novel follows their escapades as they attempt to evade capture while killing the quarry and leaving it on the doorstep of the thwarted adversary.

Capture while committing a felony would be ruinous to the reputations of the three friends (a lawyer, a Member of Parliament and a Lord) so there is plenty at stake to make the endeavour sporting. That sporting spirit has endured through the years and inspired the Macnab challenge, which requires the participant to catch a salmon on the fly, shoot a red stag and bag a brace of grouse between dawn and dusk on the same day.

There have been numerous adaptations to the Macnab format, each referencing the species available in different habitats around the world, such as the ‘Southern Macnab’, consisting of a sea trout, a couple of snipe and a roebuck, or the ‘MacNorfolk’, which requires the taking of a fallow buck, a bass on the fly and a brace of wild grey partridges. However, for the original, the destination, as was the case in Buchan’s book, must be Scotland.

The appeal of the challenge is the combination of luck, skill and a race against time. To succeed, the sportsman has to display competence in fly-fishing, stalking and rifle marksmanship, and shotgunning. By selecting a day and being subject to the vagaries of the Scottish weather, over which he has no control, the behavior and location of the three quarry species and the passing of time, the sportsman’s blood is up at the very crack of dawn and remains in that state until dusk falls.

To succeed, the stars must align and each quest be completed in time for the next to commence. One bad cast, one missed shot, one botched stalk, and failure is the result. Many sportsmen attempt a Macnab every year, for years on end, and never quite make it. The Field magazine, perhaps the most influential of all sporting publications in these isles, has laid down its annual ‘Field Challenge’, in this one-hundredth-anniversary year of John Macnab’s publication and will award a pair of silver cufflinks and an invitation to The Field MacNab Anniversary Dinner to successful Macnabbers.

The 2025 event is sponsored by Westley Richards, who, in 1925 sold every item the challenger might need. Not only did the company sell the bespoke sporting shotguns and stalking rifles required to take grouse and stag, they offered a wide range of fishing rods, reels and equipment. Today, their unrivalled sporting leather goods, like the Bishop Hill Bag, made to order in the same Birmingham factory as their guns and rifles, make perfect companions for the dedicated sportsman or woman in search of the elusive prize.

Outfitter Delaney & Sons organised their fifth annual Macnab Challenge to sportsmen this year, running from 12 August – 10^th November 2025. To date, their participants have achieved remarkable success. Sixteen accepted the 2025 challenge and descended upon three Scottish estates in groups; every one intent on succeeding where countless others have failed.

Photographer Sarah Farnsworth beautifully captured the joys, frustrations and challenges that featured hourly over the week of sport; some sportsmen blessed by apparently divine intervention at times, others beaten by the fall of dusk on a day which had started with promise and early success. The individuals in each group bonded over their shared struggle and lived each others’ highs and lows, felt the adrenaline rushes and the crushing disappointments of their brothers in sport, as a grouse folded to the shot, a salmon slipped its hook or a stag stepped out of shot and over the horizon.

One Group were based at Glenmuick, hosted by Liz Delaney, another two, hosted by Sean inhabited lodges at Invermark and Gannochy. After a very dry summer, rainfall had at last come to Scotland and the rivers and streams were swelling, salmon moving and the fishing remarkably good.

The first success of the trip happened on Monday, as Michael had a salmon on the bank by half-past-eight in the morning and took-off in pursuit of his grouse. Having bagged a brace, he headed for the hill in the afternoon and grassed his stag in short order. That first Macnab made it look deceptively straightforward. Others were soon to discover that it rarely is.

The next with a chance of success was John, who hooked his salmon, killed one grouse and tried for a stag but was beaten by a combination of the terrain, the impending gloom and fatigue. Greg killed his stag, then fished until dark without a take. Meanwhile Stefano took his fish late in the morning but ran out of daylight chasing his stag around the hill. Much effort, some success but ultimately beaten by the elements, the clock, and the fickle nature of Lady Luck. Laird was hunting out of Gannochy and hooked his salmon just before lunch, successfully grassing the fish to cheers from his friends. Then, as tradition dictates, he was then forced to sit down for lunch and suppress his desire to get up on the hill, as precious time passed.

Lunch digested, he found himself walking behind the pointers in search of grouse but they were flushing too far out. Finally, he was able to hunt closer and bagged his brace, giving him just enough time to seek a stag. A brisk hike up the hill, some anxious spotting and stalking, a good deal of crawling in the heather, then his bullet connected with his beast, just as the light began to fail.

Matt, hunting out of Glenmuick, sought his stag first, killing it at midday and then headed for the River Dee, where he hooked a salmon with his fifth cast. The two most difficult targets were now in the bag and Matt certainly had time to complete his MacNab with a brace of grouse. However, theory and reality rarely go together seamlessly in the Scottish countryside and he still had to connect with his birds. Twenty-five cartridges were emptied towards the little red rockets that afternoon but only one bird hit the heather. Then darkness fell and the prize was lost. Close but no cigar!

John G. achieved an estate record, landing a salmon before breakfast, killing his grouse immediately they presented a shot and connecting with a nice stag just after lunch. By half past twelve he had his MacNab! As the week progressed, so the visiting sportsmen edged ever closer to the achievement of their goal, the elusive Macnab. However, despite several adding two of the required three elements repeatedly, only Greg and Brian managed to collect all three. Brian did so with apparent ease, under blue Scottish skies on a memorable Wednesday which delivered everything, seemingly, to order.

Greg had to work harder, catching his fish before lunch, then facing strong gusting winds in his search for grouse. His wing-shooting experience (his strongest skill set) ensured he had the competence to succeed in very trying conditions. With afternoon fading towards evening, Greg grassed his stag at half-past five, returning in triumph to deliver the good news to his fellows as they sat around the dinner table

Some gained their Macnab, some came close, all experienced an unforgettable week of sublime sport, camaraderie and purpose unique to the Macnab challenge. Those with the Macnab in the bag have created their own small piece of sporting history and gained a distinction afforded to only a select group of individuals who have braved the river-bank, the moors and the hill in search of one of sports holy grails.

For the rest of us - there is always next year.