2025-2026 Rules & Information
2025-2026 Registration
A hunter is considered officially registered for the Los Cazadores Contest at the exact time and date that his or her entry form and fee is physically received via mail, online or in-person at a Los Cazadores Headquarters location. Actual time of harvest of any legally taken wild game submitted for the contest must be after the hunter’s official contest entry time and date. All Los Cazadores Lifetime members will be officially entered prior to the open registration.
2025-2026 Contest Submissions and Scoring
To enter a trophy in the contest, the antlers of the trophy must be scored by an approved Los Cazadores scanner at an official Los Cazadores Contest site (Pearsall, Stonewall & Buchanan Dam). SCI scoring guidelines will be used to determine scores except where otherwise noted.
Animals will be scored during normal Los Cazadores Store business hours. The contest will end with the close of the Texas and Mexico General seasons. We will allow entries up to two days after the final day of regular season, but proof of legal, in-season harvest must be submitted at time of entry, no exceptions (no late season MLDP deer will be accepted).
All bucks from Texas MUST have the cape attached to the head to be entered into any division other than the “Open Division.” Skull cap and antlers entries are accepted but will automatically be placed in the “Open Division” ONLY. Skull cap MUST be attached. NO antlers-only entries will be accepted, no exceptions. Tiebreakers in any and all divisions will be determined by whomever harvested the animal first. SEE GENERAL PROVISIONS FOR MORE DETAILS.
2025-2026 Contest Awards and Leaderboard
Overall Contest Awards Include the Following:
Overall Winner, Best All-Around
This Best All-Around buck will be awarded to the highest-ranking buck for the entire contest. Ranking will be based on gross SCI score. (Open deer will not be eligible). Only Low Fence, High Fence, Hill Country, West Texas, Mexico and Archery will compete for the BEST ALL-AROUND category. Honorable Mentions will be made to the winner of this recipient as well as the award title embroidered on their jacket.
Don Keller Award
This award is in honor of late wildlife artist Don Keller. The winner of this award will have their name added to the honorary plaque located in the pearsall store as well as the award title embroidered on their jacket.
Freak Of The Year
This award is selected by the Los Cazadores staff for the craziest looking animal entered into the contest. Honorable Mentions will be made to the winner of this recipient as well as the award title embroidered on their jacket.
Contest division awards differ between each division and are listed below.
2025-2026 Legend Club Members will receive a custom embroidered jacket.
If an animal harvested meets or exceeds the minimum score for the division it is placed in but does not qualify for an award listed above, the animal is entered into the division's Legend Club (formerly known as “jacket qualifiers”) . The Minimum Scores for the divisions are listed below.
Low Fence Division (180+) The SCI gross score must total 180 or more to be considered for an award.
High Fence Division (200+) The SCI gross score must total 200 or more to be considered for an award.
Open Division (265+) The SCI gross score must total 265 or more to be considered for an award.
Hill Country Low Fence Division (150+) The SCI gross score must total 150 or more to be considered for an award.
Hill Country High Fence Division (180+) The SCI gross score must total 180 or more to be considered for an award.
Mexico Division (170+) The SCI gross score must total 170 or more to be considered for an award.
Archery Low Fence Division (160+) The SCI gross score must total 160 or more to be considered for an award.
Archery High Fence Division (185+) The SCI gross score must total 180 or more to be considered for an award.
2025-2026 Category Awards:
Most Points
The total number of points measuring over one inch long. See rule #7 in the General Provision section.
Heaviest Buck
"weight division" trophies, the whole, "field dressed" carcass must be brought to the LOS CAZADORES HEADQUARTERS location for official weighing (all entrails, including heart, liver, lungs, are to be removed and discarded PRIOR to bringing carcass to Headquarters). Sexual organs and globules of "fat" may be left intact, on/inside the carcass. In the case of a “Tie”, the winner will be the first person to have registered into the contest.
Widest Spread
The greatest inside spread between both main beams maintaining a right angle to the skull (measuring diagonally is not allowed). Tiebreakers determined by tip-to-tip spread.
“Mr. Heavy”
The total of all mass measurements combined.
“Mr. Drop Tine”
A drop tine is considered any antler that comes off the main beam, growing in a downward direction. Any point that appears to be a “burr point” or originating from the base of the main beam will NOT be considered for this category. If the drop tine turns upward and exceeds the level of either main beam it will NOT be considered for this category. The length of the “single” longest drop TINE will determine the winner. If a buck has multiple drop tines only the longest tine will be used to determine the score. In case of a tie, gross score will be used to determine the winner.
Best Buck Women’s
Any female regardless of age is eligible for the Women’s category, as well as any other contest category.
Best Buck Youth (U14)
Youth registrants, age 14 and under as of September 1, 2025, are eligible for the youth category, as well as any other contest category.
Heaviest Doe
A doe is defined as an antlerless deer with female sexual organs. Weight is determined by the whole, "field dressed" carcass, which must be brought to a LOS CAZADORES location for official weighing (all entrails, including heart, liver, lungs, are to be removed and discarded PRIOR to bringing carcass to Headquarters). Sexual organs and globules of "fat" may be left intact, on/inside the carcass. In the case of a “Tie”, the winner will be the first person to have harvested the animal.
Spike
The deer must have two individual main beam points. The combined total length of both individual tines will determine the winner. Any abnormal points, exceeding one inch 1” will disqualify the buck from this category.
Best Six Point Buck
The deer must be a typical 6 POINT buck having two main beams, two G 1 points (brow tines) and having a total of four typical, "G" tines. A deer that had apparently been a typical 7, 8, or 9 pointer that has a typical point(s) broken off will not be considered a 6 point for this Contest category. ANY abnormal scoreable points or broken points (one inch or more) will disqualify the buck from this category. The animal’s Contest score will be the gross, typical B & C score.
Best Seven Point Buck
The deer must be a typical 7 POINT buck having two main beams, two G 1 points (brow tines) and having a total of five typical, "G" tines. A deer that had apparently been a "typical 7", but one of the G l's, G 2's, or G 3's is broken off below the level of where a measurement can be taken (less than one inch), the buck will still be considered an 7 pointer, not a 6 pointer. A deer that had apparently been a typical 8 or 9 pointer that has a typical point (s) broken off will not be considered a 7 point for this Contest. ANY abnormal scoreable points or broken points (one inch or more) will disqualify the buck from this category. The animal's Contest score will be the gross, typical B & C score.
Best Eight Point Buck
The deer must be a typical 8 POINT buck having two main beams, two G 1 points (brow tines) and having a total of six typical, “G” tines. A deer that had apparently been a "typical 8", but one of the G l's, G 2's, or G 3's is broken off below the level of where a measurement can be taken (less than one inch), the buck will still be considered an 8 pointer, not a 7 or 6 pointer. A deer that had apparently been a clean, typical 9 point or 10 point that has a typical point(s) broken off will not be considered an 8 point for this particular Contest category. ANY abnormal scoreable points or broken points (one inch or more) will disqualify the buck from this category. The animal’s contest score will be the gross, typical B&C score.
Best Nine Point Buck
The deer must be a typical 9 POINT buck having two main beams, two G 1 points (brow tines) and having a total of seven typical, “G” tines. A deer that had apparently been a "typical 9", but one of the G l's, G 2's, or G 3's is broken off below the level of where a measurement can be taken (less than one inch), the buck will still be considered an 9 pointer, not a 8, 7 or 6 pointer. A deer that had apparently been a clean, typical 10 or 11 point that has had a typical point(s) broken off will not be considered a 9 point for this particular Contest category. ANY abnormal scoreable points or broken points (one inch or more) will disqualify the buck from this category. The trophy's contest score will be the gross, typical B & C score.
Mexico Division
Best Mule Deer and Whitetail will be awarded to the highest-ranking buck for the entire contest. This ranking will be based on gross SCI Score.
Winners will be based upon gross SCI score and all tiebreakers determined by whomever harvested the animal first, except as noted elsewhere within contest rules. Except for a "full velvet" trophy, no deducts of any kind will be taken from the animal's gross score. If a trophy brought in for scoring is in "velvet", it will be scored with velvet. The velvet measured score will then be reduced by 2 percent to get the "official" Los Cazadores Contest score. If the hunter chooses, he may "scrape the velvet off' and have the antlers re-scored. If the antlers are scraped and re-scored, the "scraped" score will be the official Los Cazadores score. Pieces of broken antler points will not be scored.
2025-2026 General Provisions:
The Los Cazadores Deer Contest entrant accepts responsibility for reading, understanding, and following these rules, and acknowledges that failure to comply with and/or meet the rules is grounds for disqualification of membership for any particular year. Persons who enter other persons in the Los Cazadores Deer Contest are responsible for informing those persons of all provisions, rules and regulations.
Any animal entered in this Contest is subject to an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the harvesting of the animal, including requiring the entrant to submit to a polygraph examination, if necessary.
Any deer entered into the Los Cazadores contest MUST be brought to one of the designated contest check-in locations (Pearsall & Stonewall, Buchanan Dam and or otherwise noted location.) to be formally entered into the contest. All bucks must have the cape attached to the skull in order to be considered for entry (Mexico Division animals are the ONLY exception to this rule). Any skull and antler entries will automatically be placed in the “Open Division”. Antlers-only entries are not accepted, no exceptions.
All deer submitted for entry in the Los Cazadores Contest must be harvested in accordance with rules/regulations of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, for TEXAS trophies, and in accordance with appropriate rules of respective states in the country of MEXICO for Mexico entrants.
Upon submitting a deer for measuring and consideration as a prospective winner in the Contest, all data regarding the name, address, etc. of the person who harvested the animal must be the true and accurate name, full address, etc. of the actual hunter, as well as an accurate and true identification of the specific county and ranch from which the animal was harvested. [At the request of the hunter, Los Cazadores will not reveal the name of the ranch and/or landowner from which the trophy was harvested, except to and at the request of a State of Texas Game Warden, who will be informed about hunter's request that the name of the ranch/land owner not be made public, if at all possible].
If an animal qualifies for more than one award category, the entrant may choose which category he/she wants his deer entered in. The entrant may change his/her category during the contest, or an entrant may enter more than one animal, but each animal is eligible for only one award. An entrant may make requests no later than 48 hours after the close of respective seasons. It is the sole responsibility of the hunter to keep on top of the placing and/or changing of his or her animal in a division.
A "point" (typical, non-typical, drop, etc.) is any antler projection that is at least one inch long AND its length is longer than its base and/or meets other B&C point definitions. Antler growth that originates from a location on the skull, other than from the two, normal, main beams, will be counted as non-typical points as long as growth meets point definition.
Any tax obligation or other apparent cost incurred as a result of any prize awarded herein will be the responsibility of the recipient of the prize.
In any category in which an award is a firearm of any type and in which a minor (anyone under the age of 18 years old on the precise date that the award is to be presented) is the recipient, the minor will be awarded a substitute award (no firearm of any type) of equal value.
In the event of a “Tie” for any deer entered in a certain “Category” (ex: Most Points, Mr. Drop Tine etc.), the animal of which was harvested first will be determined the winner. In the weight categories of the Los Cazadores Deer Contest, the “Tie” goes to the person who entered the contest first.
2025-2026 Final Thoughts:
** IT IS UP TO THE SOLE DISCRETION OF THE LOS CAZADORES STAFF TO PLACE ANY BUCK IN THE OPEN DIVISION AS WE SEE FIT IN ORDER TO ENSURE THE INTEGRITY OF OTHER DIVISIONS IN THE CONTEST.
** ALL RULES AND REGULATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND THE LOS CAZADORES OWNERSHIP WILL MAKE FINAL DETERMINATION. ALL WINNERS ARE SUBJECT TO RE- SCORE AND NO POSTED RESULTS ARE FINAL UNTIL THE COMPLETION OF THE CONTEST AND POSTING OF THE OFFICIAL “FINAL LEADERBOARD”. ANY DISPUTES OR CHANGES MUST BE PRESENTED TO THE LOS CAZADORES HEADQUARTERS IN PERSON OR IN WRITING BEFORE THE COMPLETION OF THE CONTEST.