CUMBERLAND — A Cumberland man, a Morgan County man and a Hardy County man all died of apparent heart attacks during West Virginia’s opening day of buck gun season Monday, according to the state Division of Natural Resources.

Charles L. Wilkinson, 67, of Columbia Street was stricken while dragging a deer with a four-wheeler in the Germany Valley-North Mountain area in Pendleton County.

Forty-five-year-old Randall Lynn Whetzel of Moorefield was found dead inside his vehicle Monday evening. He had been hunting in the Dumping Run Road area of Moorefield near his home since 6 a.m. and was found by family members 12 hours later after failing to return home.

Curtis Lee Walker, 73, of Berkeley Springs died shortly beore noon after being stricken while hunting with his granddaughter near Berkeley Springs, according to DNR spokesman Hoy Murphy.

Walker’s 16-year-old granddaughter and his son-in-law administered CPR but were not able to resuscitate him.

In Mineral County, Anthony Lee David, 48 of Elk Garden suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the top left ankle while hunting in the Shady Side Lane area in Elk Garden. At about 5 p.m., David was attempting to shoot a deer, slipped and fell backward and the weapon discharged. He was listed in stable condition after being treated, according to Murphy.

Fifty-one-year-old Carl A. Runions of Moorefield was injured when he fell 15 feet from a metal ladder tree stand while hunting in the South Branch Wildlife Management Area of Hardy County. He was reportedly listed in stable condition later in the day.

Tuesday, 25-year-old Christopher M. Olszewski of Baltimore suffered two broken bones to his lower right leg when he fell from a tree stand while deer hunting on private property in Morgan County. Olszewski was treated at the Winchester (Va.) Medical Center following the 10:45 a.m. accident, Murphy said.

An estimated 280,000 hunters were expected to hit the woods when buck gun season opened Monday in all areas except Logan, Mingo, McDowell and Wyoming counties.