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jacklight ((n.))
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.
1n.
a light used at night to attract fish.
In Canada both the practice and the device were taken over from the Indians, who used torches, often shielded by basketlike hoods, to lure fish into position to be speared easily.
Quotations
1793
[Large torches of white birch bark being carried in the boat, the blaze of light attracts the fish, when the men are dextrous in spearing.]
1849
The night was calm, which was favourable for the jack-light.
1905
The Jack-light was made of fat pine knots (knots full of pitch), or hickory bark placed in a basket made of hoop iron hung up to a pole at one end of the boat.
1956
Some fish were taken at night with jacklights from a canoe or even through the ice. . . .
2n.
a light used at night in hunting deer, intended to daze the quarry.
Quotations
1827
[Deluding deer at night with a lantern and candle, and then lodging a slug in their vitals, seems to be a favourite murdering kind of sport with the traversing tribes of the wild rivers of Canada.]
1883
In this respect it stands far ahead of . . . shooting him by the jack-light after night by the marshy side of river or lake where he comes to drink. . . .
1958
Two Masham men were fined $100 each, plus costs and their hunting equipment was confiscated after they were found guilty of jack-light hunting. . . .