I am getting a deer mount back soon that i shot last year is it a good idea to put it above the fireplace or will it wilt or get ruined
thanks
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As long as the fire place is not a working fire place your O.K to do so, (but if it is not) then don't since the fire and smoke will inbed itself it hide and antlers. so unless your going to (add another mount to the fire) keep it away.
hope this helps
Dennis
Not a good Idea, but its your mount. If you dont use the fireplace much, the mount will last longer. But if you burn allot of wood, first it will turn smokey gray, the heat will dry the hide crispy, the hair will gain a yellow color, horns will get britle, First try and wash a spot on the wall and cealing to see how much dirt from smoke is allready there, you will be suprised and may have to wash the rest of the house. Another spot not to hang it is over your favorite recliner if you are a smoker. The next time you go to the local outdoors show and see the colection of big bucks brought in by hunters, the dingy yellow mount belongs to a smoker or was hung over a fireplace. Go to a bar that has a mount or two, and look at those dirty things. Hey, but its your buck ($). I have eight of them in my living room, and nobody touches them or else. I have to much invested in them, and I want them to last a long time. They do make cleaners to wash mounts down, but the heat and smoke will take its toll over time. Get yourself a second buck and put one on each side of the fireplace, that will do the trick.
I'm not knocking smokers, just fireplaces, so dont get offended guys.
A lot of smoke and heat damage depends on the size of the ceiling and the type of fireplace.........I have some customers with 30 foot ceilings and massive fireplaces, as long as they hand the mount half way up or higher I've seen little damage, just remember to open the flu, other wise won't matter where you hang it.
What about mounting over a gas log fireplace approx. 40,00 BTUs. The fireplace does throw heat, but not the smoke associated with a traditional wood burner. Should I also avoid?
Heat will do far more damage than the smoke. The reason is, the heated air will rise above the source and carry with it all the dirt and dust. This will include all the small particles that make up the smoke. Even if your fireplace is a very efficient modern design, there is a certain amount of heat that will rise. This creats a convection current of air that will rise up the wall and carry the junk up to be deposited on your head.
A few years ago I was contracted to clean the mounts in a client's trophy room. They had been in the room about five years, and the trophy room had been built specifically to house the collection that he had accumulated over the years. The room had radiant, in floor electric heat, 12' side walls and 20' peak. The job was done at a time of year the there was heat(I don't remember exactly when it was) and the room felt quite comfortable. UNTIL I went up on the ladder, it was hot up at the peak! The deterioration of the mounts at the top was more noticable than those lower down. There were open seams, drumming and cracking on everything high up, but the damage seemed to be less noticable the lower I was. The mounts were up to twenty years old at the time and most had been done by a "well known westcoast taxidermy firm". Many of the mounts that were hung at the lower level were of the same age, and in his previous trophy room they were all hung at the same level. My point is, the heat factor was a DEFINITE problem to a mount.
The room had a large ceiling fan to "keep" the heat circulating and the room at a uniform temperature.....That "obviously" didn't work too well. It did however, deposit a good layer of dust on the tops of all the mounts. The room was open to the rest of the house(it was a BIG house) by a set of double doors. I ws told that the doors were closed most of the time, but the dust had a slightly greasy feel to it and the kitchen was at the "other" end of the house.
I cleaned and touched up the mounts and the client was going to decrease the temperature in the room and shut down the ceiling fan. Some time in the next two or three years the client died and the collection was disposed of. I don't know how or where. I never got back to see if the changes made a difference to the condition of the mounts.