Absolutely, positively, one-hundred-percent sure, it is "bear," it's just a western accent.

Cf. "there" -> "thar," as in "them thar hills."

They also say "crick," for a little small stream of water. ("creek")

"The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is an excellent example, Biker.

Trying to remember more from my time in MT, but being back in MA for thirteen years has eradicated most of the memories.

Oh, and The Dude is just emulating th' accent he heard, much like how I would say "bar" in singing the above-mentioned Ballad, or might say "see-ment pond" if talking about a swimming pool, or maybe even "aluminium" if I were talking metallurgy with someone from the UK.


[edit:]

Heh, heh... Fronteir gibberish... Priceless  
".. clearly stating what needed to be said.."

Brooks is a genius of lowbrow humor.

It's good to see this discussion just wont lie down and die!

It's good to see this discussion just wont lie down and die!

A fine example of the ongoing development and growth of dudeism; strong conversation and civilized debate. 

To be honest, I've never been eaten by a bear, not have I eaten one.  I'm not sure where these statistics are coming from

Sounds like a sadomasochistic bestiality fantasy to me personally.

Pfft, for you maybe.  I'm more about those short, hairy, orange creatures (no relation), the orangutan!
"Sometimes the orangutan throws feces at you, sometimes you throw feces at the orangutan..."

Nothing wrong with Librarians

okay. as biker proved, he is indeed saying bear. but so no Europeans are confused, this is not a western accent.

it's an archaic dead frontier language.

There is no modern living accent that says it like that.

i have to leave this thread permanantly before i blow a gasket.

Certain strains of Biker's do. As a style more than anything. Like if they were to say "sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes the bar......"
But then biker culture in part either intentionally or unintentionally keeps the mountain man ethos alive.
Go to Sturgis bike week and look for an old grizzled fellow who appears to have stepped straight out of the 19th century and you'll likely hear similar.

Oh and actually I have shot, killed, skinned and eaten bear.
It isn't horrible. Sort of like pork.
Depending on where the Bear has lived and eaten it can be a bit gamey.
It's not uncommon to kill bears around dumps and they can be challenging. But a good wilderness free range bear isn't bad at all. I will never shoot another because of the nightmare of getting the damn thing out of the woods. The season is early here. September is the early season. It can be hot. I just remember myself and 3 others spending the entire day. I mean from just after sunup till just before sundown struggling to lug a freshly killed and gutted 400 pound bear carcass out of a swamp. I will never forget that smell. Makes me cringe just thinking about it.
The other thing with bear hunting is they don't die all that quick. And they live in dense areas during daylight. That means that you will at least for a short time be in very close proximity to a mortally wounded extremely pissed animal that can do major damage to you. The saying is that bear hunting is "long periods of boredom punctuated by short periods of sheer terror."
Very true indeed.


http://www.cajuncookingrecipes.com/wildgamerecipes/wild_game_recipes_bear_recipes.htm