Itasca plugs

I was wondering about potentially pruning some of the lower branches. Could they be taken completely off at the trunk or should they just be trimmed back to fit within the cage? I suppose if there are enough lower branches maybe a buck wouldn't be as likely to completely rub/girdle the trunk? I am really looking forward to the thermal/visual cover aspect of the norways, I only had a few red cedars on my place prior to planting them. It was fairly open before completing my TSI project this year as well. Hopefully in a year or 2 there will be a lot of cover/browse from that as well.
 
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