ST. PAUL, MN (KDAL) - The Minnesota bear hunting season will open on the first of September and the DNR is again asking hunters to avoid shooting bears outfitted with radio collars.  The bears with radio collars are marked with large, colorful ear tags or streamers so hunters can identify them before shooting.  Bear research is being conducted between Ely and Tower near the Eagles Nest chain of lakes in northern Minnesota.  The collared bears provide long term data on reproduction and habitat that is helpful to researchers around the state.  Since there are situations where the tags might not be visible to the hunter, killing a bear with a radio collar is not illegal.