Looking for opinions on the best/safest way to hang my elk shoulder mount which I just got back from the taxidermist. I have 18' high ceilings in my living room and plan to hang it about 12 feet up the wall, over the couch and I don't want it to come crashing down on someone (not sure how I managed to convince my wife this was a good spot but I must have been on my A game when we had the discussion of where it would go as it didn't end up in the garage!).
I was thinking of just screwing a 3.5" - 5/16 lag into a stud and hanging from the metal L braket that's over the cut out in the 3/4 plywood on the back of the mount.....but then I started thinking that due to how far the mount sticks out from the wall that it will have a lot of force on the stud and lag bolt. Also with kids running around,slamming doors, etc. was worried it may slip off the head of the lag bolt and rotate and fall off.....So I was wondering if you think the bracket on the back of the mount sitting on the 5/16 lag will be safe enough or if there is a better and safer way to secure it?
I know there are a lot of people on here that have experience hanging big heavy mounts so hoping I can get some good input into this.
Thanks!