We all have a bucket list. Mine is extensive, although the MacNab has featured fairly close to the top for quite some time. The mythical John MacNab never actually existed and is in truth a novel by John Buchan, published in 1925. Unlike the three sporting mavericks from the book, Sir Edward Leithen, John Palliser-Yeates and The Earl of Lamancha, I was not embarking on taking up poaching but had received an extravagant invitation from Lucie Kulhne to put my personal hunting prowess to the test by attempting to complete a MacNab from her highland home in August of last year.

Lucie founded and runs The Ladies MacNab Challenge. Every year, Lucie invites several ladies from around the world to muster their personal competitiveness in completing this challenge at her family’s estate, Tulchan Lodge of Glenisla. This 15000-acre estate has a long history and tradition of deerstalking as it borders the Balmoral Estate, where deer stalking was developed by King Albert.

Women often treat hunting slightly differently than men, feeling the beauty of the wild and integrating nature into their sophisticated homes and lifestyle often embarking on design projects which find their sources and inspiration in the wilderness derived from hunting and or fishing activities. Lucie has introduced many women to stalking and shooting gathering some of the most glamourous lady shots from around Europe from novice to experienced sportswomen. 

The MacNab pits skill and endurance against the clock and wild, unpredictable quarry. To take three species, a stag, a brace of grouse and a salmon in one day is always going to be in the balance and relies on nature’s compliance as well as skill and bravery. 

Lucie and Florian are European gypsies in the most exuberant sense and spend their time between Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium and Scotland. I had met Lucie, a successful international lawyer, the year before in London through a mutual friend. I was impressed by her holistic view of hunting shared with mine combined with an avid interest in ecology and art. A skilled taxidermist and art patron, Lucie had an unusually refreshing take on fieldsports for me.

It was an honour to arrive at Tulchan and be welcomed into the heart of her family with her husband there to welcome me and her three young children cavorting around. Her eldest daughter was already embracing fieldsports and Lucie was keen to have women around that could inspire both her daughters to adopt a healthy attitude to shooting wild game as they grew older learning the importance of respecting the quarry. She was also keen to install the qualities they would need to one day run the estate in this sustainable manner from an early age. 

The Ladies MacNab Challenge ‘is a concept aiming at responsible, comprehensive approach to food and stands at the crossroad of ecology, gastronomy, ethics and pleasure’. To this end, Lucie supports art foundations and has had artists in residence at the estate. All the game shot on the estate is expertly cooked by the resident chef. This is a far cry from the English tradition of driven pheasants where the quarry is certainly less testing and the day can sometimes unfold like a cocktail party in a field. 

After recent political events, I particularly appreciated the European sentiment on arrival. Florian, Lucie’s dashing husband, a German, dressed impeccably in sporting tweeds greeted me. It was actually his father who had discovered and bought the estate after searching for many years. 

I was welcomed into the heart of their Victorian hunting lodge, Tulchan Lodge and introduced to my companion for the next couple of days, Robert de Montjoye, a keen Belgium hunter who had offered to accompany the first few participants of The Ladies MacNab Challenge with his camera. Marina Gibson, the well-known fly fisherwoman arrived the next day and with only the two of us, the team had plenty of time to focus on our needs and I was introduced to Dougy Morison, who offered me a well needed spey casting lesson ahead of the main event.

I experimented with salmon fly fishing on two very different rivers that morning: the Tay and the Ericht, both with very different depth and current speeds, which made me aware of the challenges of flyfishing, the importance of adapting the casting methods and equipment. These complexities are why I believe that you get so much more appreciation of this sport, if you really build and invest competence and knowledge of flyfishing instead of just relying on short term pleasure accompanied by a ghillie. 

That night we dined en famile on beautifully prepared roe deer from the estate. It was to be a demanding day ahead so opted for an early night. Although the grouse are walked up on the moor and the stags stalked on the hill on the estate, the rivers are a fair drive away so Marina and I headed to the beat on The Ericht at 6am. The rain had been torrential the previous day and the river was in flood. There was to be no fishing. We raced the 45 minutes back to the estate and took to the moor. Florian selected a stunning 20 bore side by side David Mackay gun for me to use. The weather was not kind, although we walked in a line of four across the moor. Marina shot her first ever grouse which was a magical spectacle to see. With a brace a half in the bag, I could continue to the next step so after a quick lunch headed to the hill with Nick Stewart, the second stalker on the estate.

Nick started as a gamekeeper after leaving school at 15. He spent most of his time working amongst deer in either Perthshire or Angus. He has been worked at Tulchan for three years now. Nick says of the estate, ’the main reason I like working here is that it is an estate that still believes in managing deer in a traditional manner and believes that deer are still a valuable asset to a sporting estate. ‘

Nick is obviously enthralled with the Ladies MacNab Challenge days, ‘the main challenge of the ladies MacNab for our team is time scale, especially where stalking is concerned. Generally, stalking isn’t a sport you do in a rush. The biggest pleasure I get from the ladies MacNab Challenge is taking someone out who has limited experience and presenting them with the opportunity to take on or accomplish this great challenge.’

We drove to the top of Glenisla where the views take your breath away. Some of the most renowned Scottish estates can be seen from the top including Balmoral. It is another world and the colours change in rapid succession with the light. The weather is unpredictable and in August we experienced hot sunshine to driving rain to bright skies within a matter of a couple of hours. The visual impact of this landscape is a huge part of the appeal. Nick is fine tuned to spot the deer and we waited in the Landrover spotting them to the right in the distance. He seemed confident which direction the deer would be moving and where they would find temporary shelter from the wind. We started walking in a large curve to prevent our scent being carried in the deer’s direction by the wind. As we neared where we thought they may be resting we mustered a semblance of stealth, approaching some small peat hills, hoping the deer would be behind. We had not seen them leave in any other direction. 

They had simply disappeared and I was aware of the time ticking as had arranged to meet Dougy at 6.30pm on a private beat a good 50 mins drive away. We walked swiftly in the now driving rain to the other side of the glen. The terrain became steep and we crawled down on our bellies, prone. Finally, we saw some groupings of deer. Using a .243, we tried to set the first shot up, but it was too challenging for me as I was lying in such a steep, crooked position, I was not confident of my gun mount. We crawled at a snail’s pace ever closer. Still a steep downhill, it felt safer and I watched the stag through the scope.

We lay there silent until confident of the shot and the stag fell immediately, a 226 metre shot. We then had the challenge of getting the beast back to the lodge. The Argocat way below was struggling to find a suitable ford to cross over the river and Nick and I had to get the animal to the bottom of the hill. Finally, the stag was mounted on the Argocat and we drove back to the lodge. Time was running out, fast and I drove like the wind to the fishing beat. The river had calmed considerably although dusk was fast setting in. We ran to the banks and started fishing at 7.30pm. At 10.30pm, the owner of the beat came and retrieved us. I was reluctant to leave but confident I had given this momentus challenge my best shot.

I arrived back at the lodge, exhausted yet exhilarated by one of the most memorable sporting days of my life. Yes, there was naturally a part of me that felt disappointed that I had not completed the challenge and the salmon had alluded me, although my overwhelming emotion was one of appreciation and gratitude from having the opportunity to tick one of those bucket list moments off my list. There is always next year…

To find out more visit: http://tulchan-glenisla.co.uk/