With the slight banana shape of the trunk, the butt could have bounced quite a bit. Or the top could have got a jerky side move if it hit the outside top quarter of the logs on the ground.
It's useful too for wedging over the hard back-leaning trees. It allows more force to actually lift the tree instead of flexing the full length of the hinge.
Seeing again your pics in full size, I just realized that the "board" next to the log is the actual main clump of pulled fibers from the release cut. Amazing.
I can see what you say though. The stumpshot represents as much of a step during the fall if the edge crumbles under the load before the closing of the face.
Stumpshot or not, if the hinge is thin enough, its fibers are crushed down almost by the value of the kerf's width. The tree leans more by the same amount, no need to cut out completely the hinge on this side.
The fibers aren't affected per se, but built on purpose. The cambium layer "feels" the strain on its axis and put in place each year whatever is needed to sustain the load. It can produce either more wood or densier/stronger fibers, or both. It's obvious with the wood's density in the crotches...
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