Aug. 19, 2025



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*Minnesota DNR News
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*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
*

Aug. 19, 2025




*For more information:*

Contact the DNR Information Center

by email  <[email protected]>or call 888-646-6367.





In This Issue

* Hunters urged not to shoot ear-tagged, radio-collared research bears [ #link_1491411977526 ]
* Mille Lacs Lake walleye limit increases from 2 to 3 on Aug. 23 [ #link_1491412003165 ]

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Hunters urged not to shoot ear-tagged, radio-collared research bears

Collared bears provide important data to inform management decisions 

The Minnesota bear hunting season opens Monday, Sept. 1, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is once again asking hunters to avoid shooting marked research bears. These bears have large, colorful ear tags and wear radio collars.

Researchers with the Minnesota DNR are monitoring 50 radio-collared black bears across the state, especially in bear hunting zones 27, 45 and parts of the no-quota zone. Most of the radio-collared bears live in or near the Chippewa National Forest, Camp Ripley, the Brainerd/Baxter area, and Duluth. However, the bears also range widely from these sites. All but three of these bears are female.

“We ask hunters to avoid shooting these research bears,” said Andrew Tri, Minnesota DNR bear research scientist. “These collared bears give us much of the data we use in bear management and are most valuable to us when they are collared for multiple years. Thank you to hunters who have opted not to take collared bears in past years and hunters who choose not to harvest collared bears this season.”

A key point of the research is to look at year-to-year changes in natural food supplies and how those changes affect individual bears in terms of their habitat use, physical condition, denning, reproduction and interactions with people. This research is not designed to evaluate mortality from hunting. Tagging new bears every year to replace any killed cannot substitute for long-term data on individual bears.

The collars the Minnesota DNR uses in this research have GPS units. Periodic GPS coordinates of collared bears’ locations are either uploaded to a satellite or stored in the collar, and DNR researchers download this data when they visit a bear in its den. Each bear provides several thousand data points per year.

The bear’s coat often hides the collar, especially in the fall, and most collars are black. But all collared bears have large (3 x 2 inch), colorful ear tags. The tags should be plainly visible on trail cameras or when a bear is at a bait. Example photos of collared bears with ear tags and a summary of pertinent research findings can be found online under the link “Importance of Radio-collared Bears” on the Minnesota DNR bear management webpage [ [link removed] ] (mndnr.gov/hunting/bear).

Minnesota DNR officials recognize hunters might not be able to see a radio collar or ear tags in some situations. For this reason, taking a bear with a radio collar is legal; however, pausing briefly to get a clear view of the bear’s head can help reveal whether it has large ear tags, which indicates that it is collared.

If a hunter does take a collared bear, they are asked to look for a small, implanted heart monitor under the skin on the left side of the chest. This device contains valuable information stored in memory and looks like a small, silver capsule that is approximately the width of a paper clip. If a hunter finds this device while skinning the bear, they are asked to submit it to DNR with the collar.

Hunters may see bears with very small ear tags (1 x 1/4 inch). These bears are not collared and may be part of other ongoing research projects. It is legal to take a bear with small ear tags, but please call the Minnesota DNR to report the tags.

The Minnesota DNR asks any hunters who do shoot a collared or ear-tagged bear to call the Minnesota DNR Wildlife Research Office in Grand Rapids at 218-328-8879 or 218-328-8874 to report it and coordinate the pickup or drop-off of the collar and heart monitor, if applicable.

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Mille Lacs Lake walleye limit increases from 2 to 3 on Aug. 23

The walleye limit on Mille Lacs Lake will increase from two to three beginning Saturday, Aug. 23, and continuing through Sunday, Nov. 30. The size limit — which allows anglers to harvest fish 17 inches or longer but only one longer than 20 inches — remains in place.

“Our primary management objective is to maintain a healthy walleye population and remain within the state’s share of sustainable harvest,” said Brad Parsons, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fisheries section manager. “The slow bite this year allows the DNR to meet that primary goal and offer anglers the chance to take home an extra fish during the remainder of the season.”

As of July 31, state-licensed anglers have harvested 23.5% of the state’s allocation of 113,600 pounds of walleye. The state and the Ojibwe Tribes who retain harvest rights in the 1837 Treaty Area jointly establish a sustainable harvest level each year, and that total harvest amount is then allocated between state-licensed anglers and Tribal anglers.

The slow walleye bite on Mille Lacs Lake in 2025 is due to abundant forage in the lake from strong yellow perch and cisco hatches the previous year that provide an alternative to anglers’ baits. With slower fishing, fewer anglers have fished the lake than in a typical year.

“Although abundant forage has slowed angler catch rates, that’s a good, healthy sign for Mille Lacs Lake,” Parsons said. “Anglers are reporting they are catching plump walleye, and we expect the lake’s walleye population to grow well this season.”

Complete Mille Lacs Lake fishing regulations and regularly updated surveys that show ongoing state-licensed angler catches of walleye, northern pike and yellow perch are available on the Minnesota DNR website [ [link removed] ] (mndnr.gov/millelacslake).

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