Four southern West Virginia counties are still sitting out the state's buck gun season because of a low deer population.

Division of Natural Resources spokesman Hoy Murphy says DNR biologists don't think there are enough deer in McDowell, Wyoming, Logan and Mingo counties to support a gun season. Hunting in these counties is limited to archery season.

Murphy says the DNR reviews the long-standing gun ban every year.

The buck gun season opened Monday in other counties and continues through December 5.

Each West Virginia resident with a base license can kill one buck. An additional license is required to kill a second buck, unless the resident is a landowner hunting on his or her own land.

Along with the opening of the gun buck season, there have been several reports of hunters dying or being injured.

Three hunters died of heart attacks Monday. The Division of Natural Resources had initially reported one hunting-related fatal heart attack.

The DNR says 67-year-old Cumberland, Maryland resident Charles Wilkinson was stricken while dragging a deer with a four-wheeler in the Germany Valley-North Mountain area in Pendleton County. The agency says 45-year-old Moorefield resident Randall Whetzel was found dead in his vehicle Monday evening.

Seventy-three-year-old Berkeley Springs resident Curtis Lane Walker died while hunting in Morgan County.

A fourth hunter is in stable condition after he slipped and shot himself in the ankle.

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