1. Billy Gene Hicks was an American moving target shooter who distinguished himself in competitions around the world and the United States from 1955 to 1981.
26 Facts About Billy Hicks
1. 2.
Billy Hicks was considered to be one of the foremost moving target shooters in the world.
3.
Billy G Hicks was born in Echols, Kentucky, on May 29,1927.
4.
Billy Hicks grew up poor living in rural western Kentucky with his mother and father, brother and two sisters.
5.
Billy Hicks's father earned a meager living through the 1930s as an electrician for the Louisville Gas and Electric company.
6.
Billy Hicks attributed his success in shooting later in his professional career with his early hunting trips as a boy with his father, shooting quail in Central City Kentucky.
7.
Billy Hicks was extremely proficient with not only the pistol and rifle but was deadly accurate with hitting moving targets.
8.
Billy Hicks served with the Marine 6th Division in Sing Tau China until the end of World War II.
9.
Billy Hicks was drafted again for service when the Korean War broke out and decided to stay in the Marines.
10.
Billy Hicks quickly began moving up the ranks entering into shooting competitions and by 1963 he had achieved over 48 career wins.
11.
Billy Hicks entered into large professional competitions sometimes going up against movie stars like Roy Rogers and Robert Stack.
12.
Billy Hicks wanted to earn a spot on the United States International Team.
13.
Billy Hicks earned the praises of the Commandant of the Marine Corps for his consistent display of shooting prowess, and he soon caught the attention of the International Shooting Team thereafter.
14.
Billy Hicks had to prove to them that he could shoot consistently and with the same accuracy in order to earn a spot on the 4 man team.
15.
Billy Hicks traveled to Quantico Virginia to try out for the US team, and destroyed 195x200 targets during his first Olympic Trap trial.
16.
Billy Hicks was awarded the highest military badge for any American shooter, the US International Distinguished Shooter Badge.
17.
In 1967, Billy Hicks again joined the United States Team at Bologna Italy with James Beck, Chris Bishop, and Richard Loffelmacher.
18.
The US Team won the silver and bronze that year, with Billy Hicks registering a score of 274x300.
19.
Billy Hicks directed a concentrated effort to enhance the morale and welfare of the squadron.
20.
Billy Hicks held a National Record 200x200 straight in Olympic Trap, and was the co-holder of a second National Trap Record of 294x300 straight.
21.
Billy Hicks had been awarded the highest achievement medal in shooting the International Distinguished Shooters Badge.
22.
In 1971 Billy Hicks retired from the US Marine Corps, and began a second career as a shooting instructor at Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania.
23.
Billy Hicks continued to compete in the ATA circuit periodically to keep his skills sharp.
24.
Billy Hicks missed his 54th bird placing second in the World Competition.
25.
Billy Hicks retired from Trap and Skeet shooting in 1988 and moved to Spring Hill Florida where he spent many happy years with his family and his wife of 64 years Barbara Jean.
26.
Billy Hicks died on October 7,2016, from complications due to congestive heart failure.