Yes, you can make mead without campden tablets. I only use them for stabilizing the mead at the end. 1 campden tablet per gallon to ensure fermentation does not kick back up. I have never added them to the beginning.
Some people will pasteurize/boil their meads, claiming that pasteurization will kill all impurities. That is an old school mentality, as pasturing and boiling strips the honey of many of it's flavors and aromas.
If you keg your meads or consume them quickly, then you don't need to worry about stabilization. Although, I personally will add some stabilizer in at the end, you can never be too careful.