Don Kidd

Don Kidd

Don Kidd grew up in a small town in southwest Arkansas. His grandfather, a country lawyer, bred pointers, and his father, a cattle rancher, hunted a setter. After law school and passing the bar examination, Don entered on duty as an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in February, 1966. His first office of assignment was the Omaha Division where he was assigned to the Lincoln, Nebraska, Resident Agency, and in addition to working as a first office agent, he enjoyed a couple of years of excellent quail and pheasant hunting and became acquainted with the German Shorthaired Pointer.

After being transferred to the Indianapolis Division and the Richmond, Indiana, Resident Agency, he purchased his first Shorthair and became involved with the German Shorthaired Pointer Club (GSPC) of Indiana, eventually serving in several positions. Acquiring his first field trial Shorthair, he competed in numerous bird dog competitions from shoot-to-retrieve, AKC trials, and American Field trials throughout the Midwest as well as judged numerous Shorthair field trials. Additionally, he and several bird dog friends in the Richmond area formed the Eastern Indiana Pointing Dog Club and conducted a one course American Field trial.

Since the National German Shorthaired Pointer Association (NGSPA) conducted its national championships at Kildeer Plains Wildlife Area in Ohio, Don started riding and working at this trial. No doubt he learned and was influenced by such handlers as Ed Caudle, Dave McGinnis, and John Merrell. Elected to the NGSPA Board in 1976 he served on the board for four years. He also judged the 1979 National Futurity in Ardmore along with the first NGSPA championships in Texas.

Transferred to the El Dorado, Arkansas, Resident Agency and then Little Rock Headquarters, Don spent the next several years as a legal instructor and subsequently supervisor of the drug and organized crime squad. While work demands and his son’s athletic endeavors limited his time to field trial, he continued to own Shorthairs and spent a great deal of his annual leave quail hunting in Arkansas and Texas.

Don retired from the FBI in July, 1993, and started working for the Criminal Justice Institute (CJI), a part of the University of Arkansas System, retiring in 2003 as director. He again acquired Shorthairs, which he hunted in several locations across Texas. He also began to field trial in Illinois, Missouri, and Texas. In particular, he purchased a pup, Arkansas Timberland Cruiser, who became the 2002 NGSPA Shooting Dog of the Year being handled by John Steger. Timber had previously won the 1998 German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America Futurity in a field of 72 dogs.

Since Don has always loved quail hunting, he was fortunate to report the first NGSPA Quail Championship. Not only did he work and provide financial support to this organization over the years but his dog, Arkansas Timberland Cruiser, won and went runner-up in separate years in the Shooting Dog stake and Timberland Savannah Chip, won both the open and amateur Shooting dog Championships in the same year. Pat Waresk, who handled Chip, declared that “the dog could find a bird in a Walmart parking lot.” When he was not watching Chip, Don participated in and worked with additional clubs such as the Ozark German Shorthaired Pointer Club (GSPC), the Lone Star GSPC, and the Arkansas AFTCA.

Over the years Don had dogs worked by Don Spreadbury, Tommy Schwertfeger, John Hann, Tom Woods, Keith and Robbie Gulledge, and Mike Johnson. He campaigned dogs with John Steger and Pat Waresk for over twenty years.

Elected again to the NGSPA Board of Directors in 1999, he assumed the position of Futurity Chairman in 2000 and ran the futurity until 2017. Don was elected as President of the NGSPA in 2003 and served in that position until 2008 at which time he took over the Treasurer’s position which he held until his retirement from the board in 2017.

During his tenure as president he obtained NGSPA Board approval to become involved in the Field Trial Hall of Fame. After drafting the articles of incorporation, he worked with David Smith and Dale Bush to establish a Hall of Fame for Shorthairs as part of the National Bird Dog Museum. David Smith located a small space in the Museum where the NGSPA hung five mounted photographs which depicted some early history of the breed. This small but important contribution included Virgil V. Van Divort of The Toledo Times, who was one of the founders of the NGSPA, and Lefty Dixon, who won the first NGSPA Championship. On February 9, 2008, the German Shorthaired Pointer Hall of Fame inducted its first class of individuals and dogs. Don took pleasure in researching each dog and person and providing a biography for the Hall of Fame booklet.