RE: Clearcut and thinning of timber
Really depends on a few factors...
1) How intensive the cutting is, and over what time period it occurs.
2) How bad the underlying brush is destroyed by the cutting.
3) How much of the turkeys "home" territory is affected.
4) If affected, what areas of the turkeys "home"---i.e., roost sites, strut zones, food plots, etc.
5) The size of your turkey population, and how many mature gobblers you have located within your property.
With your season so close, the turkeys will be adversely affected, especially with the start of your breeding (pecking orders specifically) season getting under way very soon.
Turkeys, I've found moreso than deer, can't stand chainsaws. Probably has to do with their loss of their best defense, their hearing, whereas deer still have their sense of smell.
They'll move to a more quiet location, and if they establish new strut zones and roost sites, they won't be back to the "cut" areas this season. Then again, 800 acres is a very large area, and I'm suspecting you probably have a good population of birds, with multiple hen & gobbler flocks.
Depending on the time period though, at minimum you should at least be able to call in a few satellite gobblers, but this is dependent on how many gobblers you have in the area.
With the amount of cutting you've indicated, your best bet is to scout as often as possible. The birds, I'm almost 100% positive, will move to new areas probably weekly, maybe even daily depending on how many "core home areas" are affected.
But don't digress, fore I've found that new clearcuts are a turkey & deer haven, usually within 3 months after cutting has ceased. If they finish by mid- to late-February, by the time the middle of April rolls around I'm sure you'll have some gobblers using the clearcuts as strut zones, as long as all the hens don't get spooked too far from the area.
S&R