Over the years I have tried various ways to store and / or display the antlers from various animals, primarily deer and elk. Yes, the truly great racks get mounted and hung inthe trophy room in the house, but not all of them can be mounted. I started by hanging the antlers in the garage, or throwing them in some corner of the basemsnt, but various problems with each scenario isn't hard to imagine. The most siginficant is space. Elk antlers in particular take up a lot of space. And a big pile of elk antlers doesn't allow you to move them easily, or quickly find a particular rack to "show off" when story telling.

I'm come up with a partial solution, shown in the photos below. For elk antlers, I mount a 2x8 on joist hangars inside the garage, and at least 1 foot below the ceiling. Lining up the antlers on the 2x8 gives an attractive appearance, and individual racks can be removed whenever necessary. Overall, a 12 foot board can hold up to 10, 6 point racks, although that is a bit tight. For deer antlers, I use a similar solution, but prefer a floor joist (effectively a 2x12) as deer antlers tend to roll sideways and fall off a 2x8.



It is hard to get the proper perspective in a photograph looking up in the garage, but I hope a few pictures will clear up the view.

I'm always looking for more elegant solutions, so let's see what you guys have done with your racks. Remeber to allow for clearance of any overhead doors or vehicles you are parking in the garage under the racks, but many garages have high enough ceiling to accommodate even the largest elk racks. It is kind of nice to drive in the garage every day and see the rows of antlers neatly displayed. If you don't cram them too closely together you can actually see the character of each rack quite easily.





Cheers!

Bill

Hmm, looks good, but would it scale for someone who had a large quantity of racks?

Seriously though, nice solution, and nice set or racks!

Best ceiling display I've seen was the old Lone Star brewery museum in San Antonio....cowboys could bring in a set of horns in exchange for a free beer. Before long the entire place was covered with antlers.

Now that is a cool ceiling

If I had the number that the OP did, I'd probably look into having a chandelier built with some of them.