Bob,
I've used a compound a few times, and it can be a very good choice for a bowhunter. It offers many advantages over the stickbow as it can be easy to hold at full draw, can be equipped with good sights and a good rest which can be tuned for best performance, and is fairly easy to learn to shoot accurately.
My biggest problem with a compound is it's physical weight. After shooting a stickbow for decades the compound feels heavy to me. My recurves and longbows weigh around a pound and a compound commonly weighs four or five pounds with all the accessories installed. I could shoot it about as well as my crossbow at similar ranges, but I just couldn't get used to all that weight. I was developing some bad habits like dropping my bow arm on release. Not a huge problem because I have been shooting long enough to recognize the fault and remind myself to correct it, but one that cropped up almost every time I practiced very long. I decided that I could handle all the hunting situations I face with the stickbow or crossbow, so there was no real need for a compound for me.
I've grown a nice little cluster of "spurs" in my left shoulder, and they can be a real problem with a vert bow The spurs aren't bone to bone, they are digging into the group of tendons and nerves that are on top of the shoulder when I raise my arm horizontally. When they dig in the "parts" swell and it gets worse if I continue. If I add the weight of a bow pulling back on the joint and compressing everything it just makes it worse. But I've dropped draw weight and can still shoot my stickbows if I limit my shooting. That creates a problem with keeping up hunting accuracy, because the old "practice-practice-and more practice" is the secret to shooting well. I still hunt with my stickbows, but I find myself using the crossbow for most hunting these days. The crossbow or compound will never come close to matching the stickbow's versatility when shot "instinctively" for getting off fast shots at stationary or even moving game, but the stickbow shot "instinctively" will never match the crossbow or compound for consistent accuracy at known ranges with plenty of time to make the shot. (At least for me these statements hold true.) So today I find myself more commonly sitting in a ground blind or perched in a tree stand waiting for the game to come to me. If I do decide to still hunt the stickbow is the best choice for me. A quick shot at an unspecified distance is much easier when I can just look at the target draw the bow and know from experience if I can make the shot or not, and I can usually judge the odds of making the shot instantly.
Not bragging, it took many years to program the "computer" (brain) to make it all work, and any good "instinctive" shooter can do the same thing. Most good instinctive shooters have been at it for a few years to get good. I still don't have it "perfected", but I've only been flinging arrows for 45 or 50 years now. I figure with a little more practice I can correct a couple problems with my shooting form and I'll be a lot better shot!
