22 bullet toxicity to ash tree

I purchased some CCI Ouiet-22 for squirrel management off
my back deck. They usually dive off the deck and run up
into the ash tree about 40 feet away. To sight in at that
distance I propped up a 2 x 4 against the tree and
stapled a dot target to it. After sighting in I went down
to pick up the 2 x 4 and saw that the .22 Ouiet shot had
penetrated through 2" dry spruce and could be seen stuck
down in the bark. That was two years ago. This summer I
noticed that some of the bark was pulling away fron the
tree trunk. I began to peal it off and saw that a
vertically oriented elongate area of the outer tree had
been killed. Centered in this dead area were three .22
bullets mushroomed into the tree wood. This is the area
in the tree that transports nutrients up the trunk and
storage products down to the roots. The dead area is wide
where the bullets were stuck and widens towards the
ground. The damage tapers to a point at about seven feet
up.

I've seen the drip line below lead flashing on chimneys
clear of any growth on the shingles so it definitely
deters growth on shingles. One of the boat bottom paints
is/used-to contain lead so it is toxic to marine
organisms wanting to attach to a boat hull.

As a kid I shot a raccoon out of an apple tree. Years
later I was pruning that tree and found a 1/2 buckshot
showing on the end of a cut off piece of limb. it must
have penetrated far enough into the non-actively growing
wood and not been a problem. Also there are many trees
with bullet holes in them that never looked to be in
troubled or sickly.

It was the particular set of circumstances during the
sighting in, I believe, that caused the harm to the outer
growing layer in my ash tree. Perhaps if the target had
been stapled on the tree and the bullets penetrated into
the tree there would have been no damage. There is
visible new growth moving inward on the exposed trunk
area and someday it will probably be covered in again. I
know that can happen because I left a 1' limb stub on an
ash tree next to one of my deer stands. It took years and
years but eventually the tree grew wider and eventually
engulfed the stub with just a slight imperfection in the
bark.



Edited by samchap

No, clear lead. As I mentioned, I think the problem came
from the lead lodging in the actively growing outer layer
of the tree. Perhaps if they had penetrated deeper there
would have been less or no damage.

I've seen a poacher's favorite apple tree that over the
years was pretty well poxed up with bullet holes. The tree
appeared to be doing fine still with plenty of tasty
apples.

As it stands Sam, the EPA has found that lead is deadly poisonous. They have in the past claimed that the lead in bullets is what kills people. They sure are smart, being a Federal Organization...........Kingpin

I have some purple ash borers that want your tree! I can send them free of charge!

IBD, do you know how vulcanized rubber was discovered?
"Ingenious?" "Contrived?" Nope. It was a dumb a88
slotted rotating fastener - up. Like me placing the 2 x 4
against the tree. Both the result of unintended
consequences.    I'm the kid who emptied his mother's
perfume bottle , filled it with BP from a powder
hornfound hidden behind boards in the
corn chamber, made a fuse from toilet paper and bp and
lives the rest of his life with a chunk of perfume bottle
glass behind the corner of his nose. The unintended
consequence in that was the desire to play with bp like
that again vanished.

Edited by samchap

Smell good? I don't know about that but every once in a
while during a vigorous nose blowing event something sharp
seems to be clicking into the bone in there. Every time
that happens a vivid picture of a weathered apple box with
that perfume bottle laying on the bottom as The match
approaches the fuse comes to mind. Fuse to bang = 0.

One of the few smart things I have ever done in life was to
never do that again.