The best days in life for Donald and William Jackson are spent trudging through a cold, flooded rice field in the Arkansas night, a dog and each other by their side.

The father and son team have been hunting ducks together for about a decade, since the 23-year-old William first showed an interest. They started another fall in the blinds together last weekend, when duck season opened in Arkansas, and will spend many more there after it began Friday at dawn in Mississippi.

For their family, it’s an activity that bonds them and binds generations, passed down from Donald’s father to him nearly 50 years ago, and now to his own son.

“That’s probably the best part of it. Especially with me living in Jackson now, it’s one time we can set aside for each other. It’s a family deal anywhere it’s done. You don’t see many sons that don’t have a father who showed them how to do it,” William Jackson said.

The Jacksons are avid duck hunters. Donald, a 61-year-old Vicksburg dentist, has done it since he was about 11 years old. He first took William duck hunting around the same age, and the son took to it immediately.

Donald and his wife Jennifer have three other children — Richard, Haley and Hanah — but none of them took to duck hunting the way William did. These days, Donald Jackson said he hunts 15-20 days of the 60-day season. William said he’ll go “35 or 40 days.”

“He didn’t like to play baseball, and that was my favorite sport. So I was a little disappointed with that. But he took to duck hunting like a fish to water,” Donald Jackson said. “When you put your son in that niche, it’s just perfect. He’s more rabid about it than I am now.”

William Jackson backed that up. He has binders of hunting data — shots taken, wind direction, weather, locations scouted and hunted, migration patterns and more — going back nearly seven years.

“Sometimes my OCDness comes in handy,” he said with a chuckle. “A lot of it is just driving around with binoculars.”

Donald first taught his son the trade by hunting public lands in Mississippi, but now they primarily hunt at a private farm in southern Arkansas. On hunting days, they said, they and their faithful 6-year-old black labrador Nab set out from Vicksburg around 3:30 a.m. to ensure they’re in the duck blind as soon as the sun rises around 6.

“Then it’s hunting until you get tired or get your bag limit,” Donald Jackson said.

William, as well as his mother Jennifer Jackson, also hunts deer. Donald, however, said that’s not for him. The camaraderie and social aspect of duck hunting appeals to him more than the silence required to stalk a deer.

“I’d would just as soon take a beating as be in a deer stand, myself,” Donald Jackson said with a laugh. “It’s a solitary thing when you’re deer hunting, and more of a social thing when you’re duck hunting.”

Enjoying the company of your fellow hunters is almost a necessity, the Jacksons joked. For every gorgeous sunrise they’ve seen from a duck blind, they’ve spent just as many cold, rainy mornings waiting in the water for ducks that never appeared.

“We’re idiots,” William joked. “You can’t be normal and want to do this.”

So why do they do it?

Spending time with friends — but especially each other — is a big part of it.

“It’s hard to really embody it all. It’s the perfect storm. You’re hanging with your father, watching an awesome dog work …”

His father picked up the thought there, adding, “… and then we cook. We hunt ‘em, cook ‘em as a family, enjoy them as a family. It’s always a good thing.”

Asked to nail down the one thing they most enjoy about duck hunting, the Jacksons again finished each other’s thought.

“It’s just a lot of fun,” William began. “Wish we could tell you exactly why we do it, but I can’t.”

His father then elaborated.

“It’s like defining love,” Donald said. “You don’t know how it happens. It just does.”

Duck season starts Friday

• Mississippi’s 2015 duck hunting season begins Friday. Hunters may hunt Nov. 27-29, Dec. 4-6, and Dec. 9-Jan. 31. The daily bag limit is six ducks including no more than four mallards (no more than two of which may be females); three wood ducks; two redheads; three scaup. two canvasback. one mottled duck; one black duck; and two pintail.

• Shooting hours for all migratory game birds are from one-half hour before sunrise to sunset.

• Waterfowl hunters between the ages of 16 and 65 must possess a small game license, Mississippi waterfowl stamp, Federal waterfowl stamp, and Harvest Information Program (HIP) certification.

• For information on Mississippi’s hunting seasons or to apply for a license online, visit the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries web site at mdwfp.com.