My first large trophy was a big elk. The only spot I could hang it was in the foyer that was open to the second story of the house. A few years later, I got transferred to Houston and bought a house with a 12 ft ceiling in the living room, big fireplace and mantel. I just knew the elk was going to look great there. WRONG! With the tips of the antlers against the ceiling, the nose of the elk was somewhere around 6-1/2 ft high and stuck out 4-5 ft from the wall. It didn't look good, so the elk ended up in the foyer of the new house, just like in the old house. I remedied this problem when I retired by build a house with a man cave with 16 to 20 ft ceilings.