Authorities believe a Suffolk man died Monday while hunting deer with three friends in Greensville County after falling from a tree stand.

Jeffrey Edward Sherman, 47, fell from a tree stand in the vicinity of 828 Newsome Lane, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries spokeswoman Lee Walker said.

The department received a call reporting the incident shortly after 5 p.m., Walker said. The department responded along with the Greensville County Sheriff’s Department and the Greensville Volunteer Rescue Squad.

Sherman could have died of natural causes before falling to the ground, or he may have accidentally fallen, Walker said.

“A lot of times we’ll find folks have had a heart attack or seizure, so we don’t want to rule that out until we get confirmation back from the Medical Examiner,” he said.

The four friends were hunting deer during the early muzzleloader season, which runs Nov. 1 through Nov. 14.

His three hunting friends returned and found Sherman unresponsive beneath the stand after he failed to show up at an arranged time.

“It was several hours from the time that he went to the stand and they came looking for him, and several hours after he didn’t show up,” Walker said.

Sherman was pronounced dead at the scene after attempts to revive him failed, Walker said. The body has been sent to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Richmond.

“They are going to hopefully determine the cause of death,” Walker said, adding that the incident did not involve the discharge of a firearm.