Completing the Macnab with the Bockdrilling

The Macnab Challenge has its roots in a novel from the 1920s. Fictional Scotsman John Macnab was in a life crisis and was looking for an unusual challenge. Most of his hunting activities until then had been of the illegal kind. One day, he challenged the owner of a large estate with the statement that he would soon remove the quarry of a single hunting day and return it to the estate house undetected.

Although this boastful statement probably involved plenty of whisky, John Macnab kept his promise and soon delivered a stag and a brace of grouse to the estate owner’s door. He completed this impressive feat with a salmon that he had caught in the nearby river, with a fly he had made from deer hair.

The story of John Macnab remains popular to this day. It has encouraged many hunters to copy his efforts – legally this time – and accept the challenge of shooting a stag and a brace of grouse (two birds) and of also successfully fly fishing for a salmon.

Robin Marx did not want to be without his own BD14 for this challenge. After all, this firearm had already proven itself in its greatest test: Robin had achieved the result for the gold shooting pin in the special stage at his home range of the German Shooting Association (DJV). It was probably the first time that such an achievement had been completed with a combination gun. Robin’s choice had only one disadvantage – the very time-consuming journey to Scotland due to the firearm. As the German airline Lufthansa no longer permit hunting rifles to be transported to Great Britain, a long car journey to Amsterdam was required first. From there, KLM Airlines offer direct flights to several destinations in Scotland, including Edinburgh, the destination airport for this trip. This was followed by a four-hour car journey with a rental car on narrow roads and in left-hand traffic, which Robin was not used to, until he finally reached Ullapool on the north-west coast of Scotland. From this small harbour town, a daily ferry goes to the Isle of Lewis, home to the Garynahine Estate. This seemingly endless hunting estate was the starting point for Robin’s first Macnab experience.

Guide Donnie was rather surprised and not exactly enthusiastic when he saw Robin’s rifle. He disapproved of the idea of having to hunt grouse and stag with a German Drilling with two rifle barrels and only one shotgun barrel. At least he was able to dispel Robin’s concerns about the weather: It would only be raining for hours at a time instead of all day long as usual.

Quite in contrast to Donnie’s weather forecast, it was pouring down the next day – the first hunting day. The strong gusts of wind sealed the deal: Donnie decided not to try for the mandatory stag on the morning of that day. While the chances were not too bad, Donnie’s decision was understandable. Because what good would it have been to shoot a stag if the potential of the subsequent grouse hunt would have been very low?

On the morning of the second hunting day, the weather had improved significantly and Donnie stayed with his hunting strategy. As he probably still saw Robin’s Bockdrilling with only one shotgun barrel as a big handicap, he wanted to try for grouse first, of which at least two are required according the rules of the Macnab challenge.

Luckily, one of Donnie’s two Pointers soon indicated the first grouse in the extensive grounds. As an experienced shotgun shooter, Robin had no problems hitting the bird as it was flying off. That was the first hurdle overcome and Donnie was pleasantly surprised.

That even a master shot can miss was proven half an hour later. Robin was most upset about not having been focused enough. Donnie, however, having by now realised that Robin was no beginner, encouraged him and assured him that they would soon encounter more grouse. Shortly after, Robin completed the first step of the challenge with ease.

Now he had to catch a salmon with a fly rod in the river only a few kilometres away. Not an easy task at that time of year, as the salmon move to their spawning grounds and usually no longer feed. To be successful, the fly had to be used expertly to trigger a bite reflex. There was an added complication, however, on the day when Robin tried for his Macnab. The strong rains of the past days had caused the river to swell so much that Donnie’s optimism had waned noticeably. But he was experienced enough to know which type of line, trace and fly could be the only saving grace in this situation.

It would turn out to be Robin’s greatest challenge of the day. Already thinking about the stags and knowing that he was under great time pressure, it was not easy to follow Donnie’s advice on how to handle the line and rod correctly. Everyone was accordingly relieved when the first bite of the day occurred about three hours later and the salmon had been safely brought to the river bank with a landing net.

There was not much time for Robin and Donnie to enjoy the catch under these difficult circumstances. The sun would set in a good two hours and Robin had to shoot his stag before then. As it would have been impossible to walk the distance from the river into the more hilly region of the estate, where the red deer are, they took a short trip in the fourwheel drive car.

The subsequent stalk at the edge of a high-lying valley on damp, uneven terrain was very strenuous and took longer than Robin and Donnie would have liked. It was due to the still very good red deer population in this area that Donnie spotted a lone, older ten-pointer quite quickly. It all came down to the wire then for Ronnie, when Donnie told him to take the shot. After a seemingly endless few minutes, the long-awaited shot finally sounded through the valley. Donnie grabbed his binoculars. His smile signalled relief and appreciation.