A Day In The field

Three Species In A Single Day

What will a day be like on the MacNab?

A typical day has many moving parts, largely defined by topography, with the red stags high in the hills, the red grouse in the slightly lower moorlands, and the Atlantic salmon in the river valley below. After a hearty breakfast in the lodge, our group will split up, with half of the MacNabbers heading down to the water with the ghillies, and the remainder heading to the hills with the stalking guides.

Each stalker has a separate area, or beat, and all stalking is on a 1×1 basis. If a stag is taken then you will come off the hill and, depending on the time of day, head down the Glen to the river to go for the salmon after donning waders and grabbing your fishing kit, likely stopping at the moor on your way to go for your brace of grouse. Conversely, if you get a salmon first, you will be whisked up the glen to go for your stag and grouse. The key to all of this lies in the teamwork of all of the ghillies and stalkers working in concert.

After the day of sport we regroup at the lodge to catch up and get ready for dinner. We generally meet early in the evening for cocktails, then gather for a well earned meal. If someone is on their third species on any given day he or she will understandably be excused from dinner (we had one MacNabber get his third at 7:32 pm), but we will save a plate for them. And it is very much a matter of “Wash, Rinse, Repeat,” as we will do the same the next day.