This pattern creates numerous small blocks of vegetation treated with different herbicide rates ranging from none to heavy. The mosaic created by VRP application depends on the range site and the herbicide rates used, so no two VRPs are exactly alike. VRP application costs more than other types because of the additional flight swaths required. Animals may use only a portion of the treated area, usually near the edges. Herbicide applications generally leave some brush which can serve as screening cover for deer, but defoliated brush gives little shade.
Herbicides reduce the amount and diversity of food plants available, both browse and forbs.
A substantial portion of the deer population will leave a pasture when most of it has been sprayed. In one South Texas study, spraying up to 80 percent of mature brush in alternating strips did not change deer numbers, but broadcast spraying of all the pasture resulted in a large reduction in deer numbers, and the population stayed small for at least 2 years. Brush management along drainages and in bottomiands should be done carefully, if at all, because these areas are especially important wildlife habitat. They usually contain many kinds of plants, especially woody plants, which provide loafing cover for quail and turkey, bedding sites for deer and nest sites for songbirds. These bottomiands also produce an abundance of food plants.