Thank you guys for the responses, I really appreciate it. The bears are black bears. The 2 3/4 slugs proved to be more accurate than the 3" slugs, in my gun, and are more " gentle " on the shoulder. The recoil from the 3" slug was stronger than the 3 1/2" magnum turkey loads.
At the range, every body stopped over to see what was making that noise and nobody took me up on my offer to shoot it.
Thanks again, Joe