The game changer for me was going from a modern compound bow to a longbow and recurve. When I was young in the sport 40 some years ago, bow hunting was a difficult undertaking. When I started bow hunting, I didn't even know anyone that hunted with a bow. Everything I learned was either by trial and error or from some info in the few publications available at the time. It was tough connecting with a buck but the difficulty added greatly to the satisfaction when successful, knowing that I was hunting the hard way.
Over the years as equipment got better and my knowledge base increased the difficulty decreased and along with that, the satisfaction also decreased. The early years when I was an immature bow hunter, everything was about making "success" easier. I tried all of the gadgets available, faster, flatter shooting bows, higher let offs, you name it, thinking it would make me a better, more successful deer hunter. Little did I know that making things easier removed the fulfillment afforded me by choosing to take a good buck in the most challenging way possible. All of the gadgets didn't make me a better hunter. I found the best way to become a better hunter was to, in fact, become a better hunter. Making things more difficult, like they were back in the early days when I was learning by leaps and bounds, seemed to be one avenue, for me anyway, to become a better hunter and I feel it has.
Learning to adjust my hunting situations to accommodate the more limited range I now have with the stick bow has taken a long learning curve, longer than you might believe. I could me a lot sloppier hunter when I could easily shoot a 40 yard radius from my stand. I've learned more about air currents and how scent flows and how to set up to not get winded since I now also hunt at lower heights due to my equipment selection. Hunting lower requires a different setup as well to try to remain unseen and requires a learning curve as well. Sometimes I think that if I ever went back to hunting with a compound bow or heaven forbid a crossbow, it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Maybe I'm wrong but I know I am a much better hunter now then I was when I first switched over to traditional equipment. I'm back loving it....