Paul Meyer has killed dozens of deer throughout West Virginia, but only this year did he locate the ideal hunting blind - his living room.

When two white-tailed bucks wandered within easy arrow range of his Poca home, the 62-year-old carpenter dispatched them by firing through an open window.

"When you think about it, a house makes a perfect 'ground blind,'" said Meyer, as a smile tugged at the corners of his handlebar moustache. "My ground blind happens to have a TV, a refrigerator, two bathrooms, a fireplace and a Jacuzzi."

Backyard bucks were the furthest thing from Meyer's mind when West Virginia's archery season began in October. He fully intended to travel to some of his favorite hunting spots.

But when Nov. 21 rolled around and Meyer still hadn't put any venison in the freezer, he got an opportunity he simply couldn't pass up.

"I was sitting in my easy chair wearing slippers, sweatpants and a sweatshirt, and watching a DVD of 'A Walk in the Clouds' starring Keanu Reeves," he recalled. "I saw a flicker of motion through one of the living-room windows. It was a little six-point buck, browsing on honeysuckle leaves.

"I pulled back the curtains and opened the window to get a better look, but the deer didn't pay any attention. I opened the window and the deer still didn't move. I had no venison in the freezer at the time, so I figured what the heck."

Meyer picked up the bow he keeps strung for impromptu target-shooting sessions, nocked an arrow onto its string, knelt down to accommodate the uphill firing angle and released the shot. The buck, hit in the heart, died almost immediately.

With a fresh supply of deer meat packed away in his freezer, Meyer figured he'd spend the rest of the archery season hunting as usual. But a few days later, as he sat in his living room watching another movie, a second opportunity arose.

"It was just about dusk, and I saw a movement I knew had to be the flick of a deer's tail," Meyer said. "I walked over to the window and looked out, and saw a seven-point buck with a really big body standing at the edge of the woods. Again, it didn't spook when I opened the window. So I grabbed the bow, knelt down on the floor again, and took the shot."

With the sun already below the horizon and the temperature well below freezing and dropping fast, Meyer took the time to don hunting clothes and grab a flashlight before heading out the back door to claim his kill.

"I tracked it onto my neighbor's property and found that it had died in the middle of a big patch of multiflora rose," he said. "I'm still picking pieces of thorns out of my hands."

The bigger buck yielded four large grocery bags' worth of venison. The smaller buck yielded two, so Meyer's larder is well stocked for the coming year. While he acknowledged that he'd rather bowhunt the traditional way - by venturing afield and spending long hours sitting in a tree stand - he predicted he'd use his house as a blind again if an opportunity presented itself. "Admittedly, these aren't exactly grueling hunts, but they do put meat in the freezer," he said.

Reach John McCoy at 304-348-1231 or johnmc...@wvgazette.com.

Paul Meyer has killed dozens of deer throughout West Virginia, but only this year did he locate the ideal hunting blind - his living room.

When two white-tailed bucks wandered within easy arrow range of his Poca home, the 62-year-old carpenter dispatched them by firing through an open window.

"When you think about it, a house makes a perfect 'ground blind,'" said Meyer, as a smile tugged at the corners of his handlebar moustache. "My ground blind happens to have a TV, a refrigerator, two bathrooms, a fireplace and a Jacuzzi."

Backyard bucks were the furthest thing from Meyer's mind when West Virginia's archery season began in October. He fully intended to travel to some of his favorite hunting spots.

But when Nov. 21 rolled around and Meyer still hadn't put any venison in the freezer, he got an opportunity he simply couldn't pass up.

"I was sitting in my easy chair wearing slippers, sweatpants and a sweatshirt, and watching a DVD of 'A Walk in the Clouds' starring Keanu Reeves," he recalled. "I saw a flicker of motion through one of the living-room windows. It was a little six-point buck, browsing on honeysuckle leaves.

"I pulled back the curtains and opened the window to get a better look, but the deer didn't pay any attention. I opened the window and the deer still didn't move. I had no venison in the freezer at the time, so I figured what the heck."

Meyer picked up the bow he keeps strung for impromptu target-shooting sessions, nocked an arrow onto its string, knelt down to accommodate the uphill firing angle and released the shot. The buck, hit in the heart, died almost immediately.

With a fresh supply of deer meat packed away in his freezer, Meyer figured he'd spend the rest of the archery season hunting as usual. But a few days later, as he sat in his living room watching another movie, a second opportunity arose.

"It was just about dusk, and I saw a movement I knew had to be the flick of a deer's tail," Meyer said. "I walked over to the window and looked out, and saw a seven-point buck with a really big body standing at the edge of the woods. Again, it didn't spook when I opened the window. So I grabbed the bow, knelt down on the floor again, and took the shot."

With the sun already below the horizon and the temperature well below freezing and dropping fast, Meyer took the time to don hunting clothes and grab a flashlight before heading out the back door to claim his kill.

"I tracked it onto my neighbor's property and found that it had died in the middle of a big patch of multiflora rose," he said. "I'm still picking pieces of thorns out of my hands."

The bigger buck yielded four large grocery bags' worth of venison. The smaller buck yielded two, so Meyer's larder is well stocked for the coming year. While he acknowledged that he'd rather bowhunt the traditional way - by venturing afield and spending long hours sitting in a tree stand - he predicted he'd use his house as a blind again if an opportunity presented itself. "Admittedly, these aren't exactly grueling hunts, but they do put meat in the freezer," he said.

Reach John McCoy at 304-348-1231 or johnmc...@wvgazette.com.