My dad shot hundreds (maybe in the thousands?) of Kodachromes in the 1960's, using a Nikon S. Somewhere along the way, he got a Seikonic L-86 meter. I doubt he ever did incident readings.
This was at a time when slides were "the only way to get a good color image".
All the slides were stored in their Kodak lab boxes as Dad never bought slide projector (!), therefore, I saw every shot, good or not so.
The majority of his shots were acceptable, in terms of exposure. Dad also tried to keep the sun at his back when possible; and most shots were of family at gatherings; not many "art shots".
I never heard him speak of "bracketing" when he was teaching me to use the Nikon, in my tender youth.
( Mom did it frequently, when she was taking photography courses from the local community college while I was in high school; she introduced me to the technique.)
For myself, I shot the majority of my slides in the mid-1980's, with my Retina IIIc, using the built-in selenium meter, using reflected readings.
I may have bracketed a few tough shots that were "irreplaceable", but the majority were "one frame and move on". Most of these were shots taken on two trips to Europe on summer band tours while in High school, so I guess my photos were more of the "snapshot" variety than "money shots", but I believe my "success rate" was probably at least 75% acceptable.
If I were shooting for money, I guess I'd have to develop a reliable system for slide exposure, and bracket when critical; trying to balance thrift of film against successful / saleable images.
Regards,
LF