The living part of the trunk is the outer layer called the cambium. (The
center of the tree is not really alive as we think of the centers of our
bodies as being alive because they are so crucial to our existence - the
center of the trunk doesn't perform any essential function to the tree,
other than hold the leaves up). The cambium can survive injury, but not if
it is injured all the way around the tree - it is the highway that water and
nutrients travel between the leaves and the roots. That is why when people
want to kill trees, they "girdle" them. They tear a layer of the cambium off
all the way around the tree - an impassible road block, the tree dies. I
doubt that your bullet wound girdled the entire cambium of the tree,
therefore I'd expect it to live a long healthy life, unless some disease
organism like a fungus decides to make a home in the hollow.
"Bradleygreig" wrote in message
...
Any advice is appreciated... I live in South-East Texas.

I have a water oak, about 12 feet tall, with a trunk circumference of
about 12
inches. It's growth is being hampered by a sweetgum tree growing next to
it
that is about 30 feet tall, with a couple of dead branches. My desire is
to
remove the sweetgum and allow the oak to grow.

The oak appears to be very healthy this spring, with vigorous growth and
bright
green leaves. My concern is that about 5 feet above the ground, where it
begins to branch out, it was inadvertently shot by a neighbor with a small
caliber, high power rifle (.223). This occured about 6 months ago, just
before
fall. The wound looks nasty, going through the center of the trunk. When
I
pulled on the water oak, I heard the faint sound of wood cracking. The
tree
still seems very healthy otherwise, however, and my question is whether or
not
I can expect the wound to heal. I definitely want to keep this tree, is
there
anything I can do to facilitate the healing?

Is it possible for this to heal and for it to be a healthy tree? Thanks
in
advance for responses.

Thanks,
Brad Greig