And he is probably cutting them off slowly.
Here's the technique:
At the crotch of a sacrifice you want to remove, rather than cut it all off at once, cut a V into the top of the crotch. About half way thru. Backfill with cut paste.
Next year, cut another halfway thru. Back fill with cut paste.
The third year, remove the sacrifice branch.
Why go to all this trouble?
Well, it aids to start the trunk to heal.
Also, it prevents the trunk below the sacrifice branch from dying. Sometimes, when you remove a branch, that portion of the trunk directly below the branch will die off. Doing it slowly allows the trunk to establish an alternate sap line.
I learned the technique at Boon's, and since Jonas is also a Boon student, it's highly likely he's doing it too!
Edited to add:
When you do this, it's time to restrict the growth on the sacrifice branch by needle pulling, decandling, and candle breaking in the spring. Why? If the sacrifice branches are too strong, the tree will direct it's energy towards healing the sacrifice branch, and not the trunk. We want the trunk to be the focus of the healing, not the sacrifice branch.
It also helps to start a new "escape branch" up higher on the trunk than the sacrifice branch being removed. This also helps heal, and redirect the energy.
