What constitutes a Macnab

chiron

Well-Known Member
I was wondering what makes a proper macnab apart from a stag a salmon and a grouse,or should it be a brace? What is the time span dawn till dusk or 24 hrs ?Poached or legal. I am off after a trout or two next week on the Test and was going to set my self the challenge of a roe buck, a brace of brownies and10 pigeons in 24 hrs ( lots of travelling for the trout) So perhaps I could describe it as a poor man's Macnab. Any other ideas for a macnab .
 
I think the origin of the McNab was a poacher who boasted he could take a deer, salmon and grouse from an estate without getting caught.

A McNab from my local estate would have to comprise a Muntjac for the deer, a pheasant for the game bird and probably a grayling as the game fish.

Cheers,

Bob

P.S.


I believe that on some estates a normal MacNab can be upgraded to a "Royal". However, this involves the gamekeeper's daughter and is probably best avoided by all except the most skilled of sportsmen !!!
 
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I think the origin of the McNab was a poacher who boasted he could take a deer, salmon and grouse from an estate without getting caught.

It comes from the novel "John McNab" by John Buchan, author of "The Thirty-Nine Steps". In it, three bored gents decide to poach a salmon, a stag and a grouse from a particular estate within 24 hours, just for the hell of it. But to make it more interesting, they send a letter to the owner beforehand announcing their intention, and sign it "John McNab". So it's actually a collective alias for three different people. They then proceed to use all sorts of diversionary tactics so that one of them's fishing while the other two are leading the gamekeepers on a wild goose chase, that sort of thing.
 
Never had a mcnab but nearly had a mcsolway (solway stalkers version) wildboar, Roebuck, salmon
Got the wildboar and Roebuck never got the salmon got a sea bass instead
Will be going for it this year again.
Kc
 
EXMOOR McNAB.
STAG SALMON +EXMOOR YOUNG LADY(all before breakfast)done that twice,married her since!
 
To be honest, it's not one of the great works of literature of the English language... It might make a half-decent Sunday afternoon sort of film though. With Johnny Depp as Sir Archie and Julian Clary as one of the other guys to mix it up a bit.
 
It comes from the novel "John McNab" by John Buchan, author of "The Thirty-Nine Steps". In it, three bored gents decide to poach a salmon, a stag and a grouse from a particular estate within 24 hours, just for the hell of it. But to make it more interesting, they send a letter to the owner beforehand announcing their intention, and sign it "John McNab". So it's actually a collective alias for three different people. They then proceed to use all sorts of diversionary tactics so that one of them's fishing while the other two are leading the gamekeepers on a wild goose chase, that sort of thing.

No grouse involved. Actually a very good book, one of my all time favourites. JC
 
It's 2 stags and a salmon in the book. Poached, having first warned the landowner of the intention to carry out the deed between such-and-such and such-and-such date.

A good read. Easy going, lighthearted and fun. Just what's needed in these gloomy times.
 
Whatever the exact origins it has come to be seen as a Red deer (Stag), Salmon and Grouse taken on the same day, ideally on the same estate but not necessarily.
Whilst I'm all for traditions in our sport, however daft, why not vary it?
Perhaps a Fallow, a Roe and a Muntjac in the same day?
A deer, a bird and a fish all in the same day - just pick the species available locally.
Pest control "McNab"? Fox, crow and magpie?
Maybe pointless, maybe adds a bit of fun to the day, especially if making it competitive with a couple of mates.
 
An "SD McNab" could consist of someone on here volnteering to be the host, while another SD member takes a deer off their patch on a certain day without being spotted.
If successful, make a donation to charity. If unsucessful, make a donation to charity. (As per the original tale).
 
Never had a mcnab but nearly had a mcsolway (solway stalkers version) wildboar, Roebuck, salmon
Got the wildboar and Roebuck never got the salmon got a sea bass instead
Will be going for it this year again.
Kc
KC that was better than a Salmon i havent seen another Bass caught there since that day:D
 
In the Highlands it is always viewed as a brace of grouse, a salmon and a stag in one day. Stag should be off the hill and all taken withing the law (inc daylight) with the salmon on a fly. Balavil estate on the Spey manage several every year.

There was an article in the Field a few years back about 'Mac Variations.' The list included a 'MacHampshire' which I concluded also on the Test (Mottisfont) in Septemeber many years back with a trout, a roebuck and a brace of mallard in one day.

My brother-in-law won the Field McNab competition one year (on Balavil) and with the heaviest fish (18 1/2 lb) won a 'MacBahamas' a bonefish on a fly, a wild pig and a brace of duck. I was with him and having hauled the fish out (forgot net or gaff..) gralloched and dragged the stag said I was coming with him but it was only for one person!


Good luck!
 
The truth of it always was that Buchan mentioned "either" a stag or a salmon. It had to be taken on the appointed day (24hrs) and it was to be poached (shock :eek: and lawks-a-lordy!) Though as you can see, no malice was ever intended and as gents they we're offering reparation in advance of committing their sins... dunno if that would work today, or ever.

Anyway, We then got "heelan" estates trying to flog the myth... they sometimes do that you know. So, it became an imperative to sex up the myth, e.g. "We can do better than Buchan's heroes"... here you have the chance to take both a salmon "and" a stag, per the conditions of the tale (without even breaking the law... but that's also optional, for naughty boys)

We've now reached the stage where they (the purveyors of sport and those thinking up schemes to outdo one another in their respective bids for the paying man's coin) are trying to out-Macnab... Macnab.... even further and braces of pheasant, grouse, roe deer, trout and all sorts get piled into the mythical mix.

It's all a bit like a certain mythical plesiosaur in a certainloch. Many a pound has been fleeced this way.... Oooops! I mean... many a hopeful customer has been assisted in their quest at reasonable charge, in this way.
 
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