I learned to fly on Auster Aiglets and Autocrats, which had no starter. Furthermore the engines were inverted inline fours and although dry sump, oil tended to slowly drip into the cylinders over time. They were usually pulled through a couple of times, then primed, then "contact" and off you went.
What you did learn was that you had to regard the prop as live at all times, only open the throttle "one knob" when ignition on, and make sure you had chocks that were designed for the aircraft they were being used on.
If you flooded the engine, you had to make sure mags off, open throttle fully, pull through, then close throttle to one knob and "contact".
Forgetting to close throttle was a big problem and I heard of several incidents where Tiger Moths jumped chocks and in one case took off and slowly spiralled in.
The idle at "one knob" was also a liability if the chocks were metal, or a bit too big for the wheel in question. I have been chased at a walking pace from light chocks on wet grass and "one knob". The aircraft just pushed the chocks along.
To sum it up in the words of 411A, dont do it unless the book says so. And then be very very careful.