Many people do eat the deer they kill. There are processing houses that only open during the Fall and Winter, for just that purpose. Sadly, many people are only after that trophy buck, with the large antlers. As someone else mentioned, deer are severely overpopulated in much of the United States, Oklahoma included. At least twice as many deer are killed by cars, as hunters. There are just too many of them. The various hunting seasons are intended, in part, to manage the population. The problem is, in our area at least, so many people pass up shooting does, in favor of that trophy buck, that there are probably ten does to every buck, and the population continues to grow every year. Many hunters take advantage of Primitive Firearms Season, archery season, and regular rifle season. One person could potentially kill up to six deer every year, although few actually do. Of course, all this discussion is entirely separate from the issue of gun control. When it comes to deer hunting, I see no need for a gun that holds more than 5 rounds, ever. Even that is probably overkill (no pun intended). I have no idea why automatic weapons have ever been allowed in the hands of the general population. As for the scenario of being awakened in the night. I hope I never have to face that situation. I have no way of knowing how I would react in such a situation. I'm certainly no warrior. A burglar is one thing, but there is a recent trend here for what the media refers to as "home invasions", where the perpetrators, usually two or more people, knowing people are home, kick in the front door, guns in hand, and then proceed to rob the homeowners at gunpoint. That seems to be mostly an urban phenomenon, so far. It hasn't happened in our area that I know of. Regarding the murders I referred to by people chasing away burglars: It was the homeowners who were killed. The homeowners unwisely chased the burglars in their vehicles, and when they caught up with them, the burglars shot the homeowners. In both cases, the people were arrested just a few days later. All this makes it sound like a scary place to live, but it really isn't. The good people still far outnumber the criminals, although the media would have you think otherwise. It's just when those types of crimes occur near your home, it puts a little more doubt in your mind, as to how safe you really are....Sorry to be so long winded about all this.