Bear 164 Bucky has knocked defending champion 32 Chunk out of Fat Bear Week 2026. Their September 24 contest ended 118,731 to 46,053, sending Bucky into the quarterfinals with roughly 72% of the vote.

Following 132’s family’s opening-round victory on September 23, the latest results complete an eight-entry quarterfinal field. The eight surviving entries have something in common: none has won the main tournament. Whoever prevails on September 29 will be a first-time champion.

Bucky’s position among the bears themselves was already strong. In its September 21 profile of Bucky, the National Park Service puts him at the top of the 2026 bear hierarchy at Brooks River, in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve. Staff describe him trying to drive newcomers away and report that almost all other bears yield to him.

Bucky was a 2½-year-old subadult when he was first identified in 2019. Explore estimates his current age at about nine.

His fishing routine offers another way to understand his success. Beneath Brooks Falls, he can sit where salmon drop after unsuccessful attempts to jump the cascade. He gets a feeding opportunity from the fish that fall short, without needing to intercept them at the waterfall’s upper edge.

At this Alaska feeding site, catching a salmon and keeping access to a fishing position are separate problems. Our guide to how bears catch salmon examines both. Bucky can now push rivals out of fishing spots, and Explore says he also challenges bears when there’s no feeding position in dispute.

His victory over Chunk was decisive: 72,678 votes separated them. It wasn’t the day’s widest result, though. Bear 620 took about 89.5% of the votes against 694. The four contests finished as follows in Explore’s official tally:

Winner	Votes received	Opponent	Votes received
164 Bucky	118,731	32 Chunk	46,053
620	149,449	694	17,589
89 Backpack	140,140	610 Family	20,635
151 Walker	134,153	903 Gully	31,087

These figures count votes across separate contests. Adding them together wouldn’t reveal how many people participated, since one person could vote in several matchups.

River dominance doesn’t decide the tournament. Explore places Gully above Walker in the river hierarchy, yet Walker took about 81% of their vote. The bracket isn’t a ranking of who can displace whom at a fishing spot.

Chunk’s 2025 championship followed three runner-up finishes: 2020, 2023 and 2024. After repeatedly reaching the deciding round, he didn’t get beyond his opening matchup this time.

The park’s account of Chunk’s jaw injury and recovery describes a lasting deformity from a fracture he sustained in 2025. His lower jaw remains displaced, but the injury has healed, and he can feed and put on weight. Staff suspect a fight with another male caused the break; they don’t know exactly what happened.

Nor is there a complete account of his summer feeding. Explore says Chunk was rarely seen at Brooks River before September 2026. Where he spent much of that time remains unknown.

Walker has reached the final before

Walker lost to Otis in the 2021 championship matchup. He’s now two victories away from another appearance in the final, with Bucky blocking the first step.

The other quarterfinals include a family connection that’s established and one that remains uncertain. Bears 909 and 910 are sisters, both born to former champion Beadnose. Explore believes 132 is 806’s mother, but that relationship hasn’t been confirmed.

The September 25 pairings are:

Quarterfinal	Entries
Family entries	132 Family against 806 Family
Adult sisters	909 against 910
Subadult and adult male	620 against 89 Backpack
Adult males	164 Bucky against 151 Walker

The draw guarantees that one family entry will reach the semifinals, but leaves no route for both. The same applies to the sisters: one advances, one is eliminated. Voters aren’t choosing the four bears with the highest totals across the whole field. They’re deciding four separate contests.

The September 25 voting window runs from noon until 9 p.m. Eastern, or 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Alaska time. Voting pauses for September 26 and 27, resumes with the semifinals on September 28, and ends with the final on September 29.

Bucky’s route is now specific. To reach the championship, he must beat Walker, then the winner of 620 against Backpack. Any meeting with either family or either sister would have to wait until the final.