NE significantly cut tags on NR deer this year, especially mule deer. 4 of us are going in November and when they went on sale a couple weeks ago two of us were able to get an any buck & two got whitetail buck. We were sitting at computers when they went on sale at 1:00 that day & took nearly two hours due to their system overloaded. Lost track of how many times I had mine in cart & when went to checkout got kicked back to login, #34@#! frustrating for sure.
We'll be hunting private ground in Thedford which is just a little SE of McKelvie. Spent a day in the Sandhills last year looking around on my way to SD. Unique area for sure, basically big sand dunes with grass on them. They have been in a 3-4 year drought and it was pretty dismal when I was there. However, like much of the West they had abundant snowfall, with significant rain in spring & summer. Talked to rancher where we are hunting a couple weeks ago and he's had the best hay year so far in a long time. Fingers crossed that it's greatly improved. Good luck on your trip!