Hi Dan, well in short, so far this winter in one word........SUCKS!!! It's been a tough one. My season was pretty much over the last weekend of Nov. Did get out a couple times in Dec, but was really hard to get any place due to the snow and drifting. My son was able to get a grouse and rooster when he was home on Christmas Leave, but they were taken in the farmers silage yard.
As to the question at hand, the birds have taken a hit, no doubt about it. All the winter cover is pretty much covered up, the cattail sloughs are all filled, as are the tree lines. CRP/prairie grasslands are also covered. The big factor was the blowing and drifting snow, plus the sub zero temps we had. Nothing was able to melt or settle down. The birds will always find some food source in farmers grain piles, silage yards etc. But in the open wild, pretty tough for any food source. On nice sunny days I have seen a few on the roads and lots of them scratching around in some of the cut grain fields. I've also seen a lot grouped under bullberry bushes. So they are out there and many will survive, but not as many as we'd like. Huns will be hit hard also, this year I saw a lot of them, they were making a comeback, but this will knock them back a peg or two. Grouse is another story, as a native bird, they should do ok, not great, but ok.
We're in a warming trend now, that is supposed to last thru the end of the month. That sure will help. The big factor IMHO will be the spring nesting season. If we get a good spring and decent summer, we should see the birds rebound a bit,fingers crossed!
Overall, it's not good, but it's not as bleak as it could be. The winter of 96/97 was far worse and they survived that one.
That's my take, I'm a bit more optimistic then some, hope I'm right.
Best,
Greg