I'm setting up my trophy room and am about ready to start putting mounts in it, but I'm concerned about the one window in there. The shutters will remain closed on the window and I have tinted the arch window above it. Is this enough to keep my mounts from fading?

Sevens

You might get better feedback in the Trophy Room or Taxidermy forums. It seems like I remember something like that being asked in the Trophy Room forum a while back.

Good luck,

Shannon
gotogirl3

I have a large bay window over 7feet in length with 60 inches inches high with a seat for the retrievers or children, now grand children to sit or rest in...I installed a very high quality vertical blind that will take care of the sun and redirect the rays so no damage....to the now Africa room...

Mike

How much direct sun do you receive through that window? Is it on the south side, getting the afternoon affects? I have multiple windows in my main room. The low window has blinds, but given the majority of the mounts don't sit on the floor, not much of a concern. The upper windows though I put that tint/film on to reduce the amount of uv light. I noticed that it has helped, though truth be told, nothing is 100%. You will notice the effects with the "red" colored animals first should they start to fade. Therefore, you may consider keeping white blesbok, white springbok, etc.. in that section if there is a concern.

The window faces south-east. There never is a time in which the sun shines directly though the window. I do have a tsesebe hanging there and he seems fine from the past year or so he's been up. The animal I'm truely concerned about is my Hawaiian black sheep. His coat is a rich black and I would like him to stay that way. Is it best to keep him in the dark corner or can I elevate him. I did post this in the taxidermy forum, but I got no responses.

Sevens

Let'em fade, then you have a perfect excuse to go shoot another skin...

Ray,

That sounds like a good idea, but I would rather have pristine looking mounts, claim they faded and get more. I can never have enough taxidermy.

How long does it take for a mount to begin fading? The window faces south-east so it never has direct light shining in it. I'm more concerned is the tinting film enough to retard the effects of fading, enough that I won't notice after a while?

Sevens

I�m with Ray -let em� fade.

I�d hate seeing (?) my trophies go on auction after my demise.Maybe I could be cremated with my trophies?

If you are worried about any fading, then you should have them in a room with no windows and soft lighting. It gives you more room to hang mounts and avoids this issue completely. That's the way my taxidermist's shop is set up.

The tinting and/or blinds should do the trick if you are willing to accept that you can only prevent 95% +/- of light from getting thru. There will be fading, the timing of which I can't answer.

If you go to the Trophy Room page, you will see many layouts, including mine by searching by my username. The whitetail mount is 20 years old, and I would say it is showing a small amount of fading on the back of the ears and back of the neck, areas where it received light. To be honest though, you don't look at that side, so when you ask "will you notice the fade", I don't know. I only notice it when I clean/dust them. If your animals face the sun, as does the right side of my blesbok shown, any change should be more apparent. My blesbok has been hanging there for almost 4 years now, and I'm sure there has been some fading.

I'd also suggest you talk to your taxidermist. They see enough repair jobs and mounts needing to be redone that they proably can tell you better than us as to any fade timetables they have seen.

If I had to shoot something every 20-30 years because the hides faded, I could live with that