Thus, the idea is to find out “where do deer sleep?”, get closer, and shoot!
You should know that deer are very cautious and have their own strategies when it comes to bedding places. They need a clear view to keep an eye on the surrounding. Meanwhile, the animals prefer to be less exposed under tops or edges or behind leaves.
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7+ Deer Bedding Habits
Do deer sleep?
Many hunters and biologists say they have never found a sleeping whitetail in the wood, so they wonder whether a deer does sleep?
Not a surprising question!
In fact, the animal, like any creation, needs to sleep so that they can “charge” the energy to rebuild cells and recover their physical and physiological activities.
However, deers have acute senses. They are able to instantly wake up and walk away when hearing your tiny movement. As a result, you can hardly sneak up on a sleeping one.
Where are deer beddings?
It is an interesting fact that whitetails spend three-fourths of their lifetime in bedding areas. The exact amount is shorter in the rut and longer in the winter, particularly in northern environments.
A good to know that when deer find their bedding places, they are going to sleep. Nevertheless, deer are very cautious in a manner that they can ensure a clear coast.
Often, the deer nod off for several minutes before they open their eyes to scan the surrounding habitants and nod back to sleep again.
Do sleeping deer open or close their eyes?
It is a prevailing wisdom that deer can sleep with their eyes both open and close. From a distance, you will not able to find out whether they are sleeping or not.
How to know whether deer sleep?
To be exact, how to differentiate when deer bed or sleep?
While bedding, whitetail often lay with their legs tucked upwards or extended on the sides so that they can quickly stand up and run.
Meanwhile, their head is set to erect to smell and their ears are up to continually listen for possible threats. Even more, bedding is a great time for deer to chew the cud and digest their food.
During cold weather, deer might bow the head and tuck the nose under the hind leg or lay the head over the shoulder or on the sides when it gets warmer
When the head goes down within a few seconds to minutes and changes its position several times, the deer seems to sleep.
How long do deer sleep?
Aforementioned, deer only nod or doze in terms of seconds or minutes. The whole sleeping cycle is about half an hour.
Then, the animals often stand and stretch their body. In the meantime, they take a look around. Supposed the surrounding environment seems safe, deer will lay back down for a new sleeping cycle.
When do deer sleep?
If you might read our last post about the best weather for deer hunting, you already know that deer are nocturnal creatures that will be active during the night and sleep during the daytime.
They might also sleep at night if deer can find a hidden and comfortable place.
What do deer look for a sleeping place?
From our experiences, deer would look for a bedding place having these five conditions:
- Camouflage coverage to keep deer less exposed.
- Comfortable environments to prevent rains, snows, etc.
- Clear area to sense threats.
- Easy entrances or exits so that deer can run away, if needed.
- Near food and water supplies.
Once the animals find their desired places, they tend to lay down at those places repeatedly days after days before the places get disturbed by others.
Where Do Deer Sleep?
From the factors above, we can find strategic places against hunters and predators to answer “where do deer sleep?”
Thick and high areas in daytime
Deer do not have good eyesight so they rely on hearing and smelling to sense a coming threat. Thus, they like thick and high places like points or ridge tops 20 feet into the dense foliage in order to get downwind odors and focus on long-distance.
Dark places when nights fall
Whitetails might want to doze temporarily at night. The ultimate purpose is to ensure self-preservation and avoid disturbances thanks to the silence, darkness, and shields. It is better if deer have their backs up against an object.
Such a place hide them from hunting eyes!
Near food and water supplies
They also tend to bed in and sleep around or closer to places where they can easily find food and water resources. Interestingly, deer often find water before feed when they wake up at night.
Ideal places to be comfortable under weather
Although deer are a creature of habits, they still change where to sleep according to weather.
For example, in the spring, the animals prefer a place to enjoy the fresh air and cool breezes, say, a place with waterways nearby.
In the summer, you can also find bedding deer in a cool bed of weed and grass, or uninhabited woods. When there is rain, deer often bed in an area having tall trees and thick shrubs.
Upon winter approaching, deer move to thick woods or places with direct sunlight.
In Sum
Where do deer sleep? – You already know, don’t you?
Briefly, you will want to go to the high places near water sources or some places having tall trees and bushes. You should also consider the weather – ideal with strong winds to mask your scent and sound. Hope the information is helpful!
