I was just curious and thought I'd throw this question out;
Do deer ever close their eyes and fall asleep or are they always awake? My dog would sleep so soundly that she snored, but every deer I've ever seen was alert. I always use the term "deer bed" or the deer was bedded here, but I assume they are just resting and chewing their meal.

Yes, they do sleep, but sometimes deer are nocturnal, especially in the late season, which would explain why you see them alert at night.

I think they sleep twice a day, and run around the rest, maybe the rut would be an exception, since the bucks run around more than not then.

ummmmmmm what kind of question is that? Of course deer sleep with their eyes closed other wise there would be alot of blind deer running around lol .

I know this sounds like a dumb question, but I have watch deer all day as they lie down and chew their cud, but they are always awake. They look like they are resting but their ears are always moving and checking sounds.
Has anyone actually seen a deer that was sound asleep?

"It is difficult to study the sleeping habits of wild deer, and there is scant scientific literature available on the subject. Therefore, I interviewed two of the foremost authorities on deer behavior, Charles Alsheimer and Dr. Leonard Lee Rue III. They are household names to whitetail hunters throughout North America, and they have collectively spent nearly 100 years working with deer. Each has spent thousands of hours observing both captive and wild deer behavior. Both have seen deer sleep with their heads in a variety of positions and with their eyes opened and closed. Charlie has observed hours of sleeping deer and says they sleep with their eyes open more often than closed, and when their eyes are closed it is generally for periods of less than five minutes."

I often wondered the same thing. Last year just after Christmas, a 9 pt I had see off and on thru the fall was bedded outside my house one morning. I left him undisturbed and was interested in watching him rest. He appear worn out and beaten up from the rut. I had watched deer bedded before but he was different.

He could barely keep his head up. Just like you or me, he appeared to have heavy eyelids and his head would drop as he dozed off. At times, his chin was on the ground or his body and his eyes were closed. He would remain this way for a few minutes and then pick his head up and look around.

I think he felt safe as he was 15 yards from the edge of my yard and had the wind at this back. He spent hours doing this.

This is the best captures I have off the video and you can see his eyes are almost closed. I'll have to see if I can get a capture of him actually sleeping.

Warren i was hunting one day mid morning in the panhandle of fla it had just snowed and the temp. was 5 degs. yes snow and 5 degs. it was in the early 1980s i had my dog and was in a clearcut walking and pete picked up a track and stated trailing i saw a log on the edge of a hill so i went over to the log and jumped up on it so i could see if pete jumped the deer well when i got on log and looked down there was 2 bucks laying there sleeping against the log,with their heads on the ground with there eyes closed. i shot one on the ground and the other one got up and ran and i killed him to. both where 8 points.

Thats a good question. Never thought about it i just assumed they did cause there mammals .

"A typical sleeping bout includes 30 seconds to a few minutes of dozing, followed by a brief alert period, and then more dozing followed by an alert period. This cycle often lasts for about 30 minutes. Generally, once per 30 minutes deer will stand and stretch and they may urinate or defecate before laying back down. They may even stand, urinate in their bed and lay back down in it. This 30-minute cycle of rest and standing has also been reported in the literature for axis deer."

same here i never thought about it because i only bout me sleeping lol!