I'll takes yes over no with 2 to 1 odds based on the picture.

Is that encapsulation I see? Is it deer damage or sunscald from last year? How did the foliage look this summer? Were there a number of sprouts under the wound?

I don't see rot -- should survive. But if it's deer or sunscald, could happen again.....

I have to be the negative on this. When we moved into this house there was a young maple in the corner of the front yard. It had similar damage. I nursed the tree for 8 years, hoping to save it. It never grew, and after 8 years it was about the same size as when we moved in. In the last year, the top branches started to die, while other trees thrived.

It had beautiful foliage in the fall but finally decided to remove it.

While it is a hard decision, it would be best to remove the tree now, and replace it, Protect the new tree from deer, rabbits, etc. and in the same period you would have spent nursing this tree before you have to remove it, you will have a much bigger tree as a replacement.

whats the string or whatever at the bottom ...

whether it will or wont.. we wont know for a few more years ... so the real issue.. is whether you want to wait that long to find out .... its called tree time.. counted in decades ...

if this is going to irritate you no end.. just be done with it ...

if you replace it.. go smallish ... max 3 feet .. it will establish faster.. and grow faster sooner.. and will outgrow a larger transplant ... it a maple.. crikey.. once they get going they can do about 3 feet per year ...

now is a great time to shop maples for color... find a tree farm.. and buy one in fall color.. to know what you are getting ...

ken

ps: if you want to ponder the cause.. you will have to provide all relevant historical facts ... and your big city location wouldnt hurt ...

From what I can see in the picture the tree is possibly an Autumn Blaze maple or similar Freeman hybrid. And it looks like a giant case of sunscald to me as the shadows on the stoop of the house suggest that this is the southerly side of the tree. You can see new growth coming around from the right side. Where is the new growth on the left side? How far back under the drying out, curling bark? How wide is the wound in inches?

If the top of the tree is in decline (significant branch die-back and no new growth), I'd consider removing it. If the top of the tree is healthy and you are still seeing good, lengthy, vigorous summer growth, I'd leave it be. If it is a healthy Freeman hybrid as I suspect, it will likely grow fast and heal over in a relatively short (in tree time) number of years. And the bark will get ever increasingly thicker and rougher with age so sunscald will not happen again once it becomes mature.

My parents have a maple in their front yard that had the worst case of sunscald I have ever seen. It took about a dozen years to heal over completely. The tree is now over 25 years old with a 2.5' trunk diameter and a barely visible scar of where the wound was.