I guess you could. You'd pull the lower arm and rotate the knuckle off, But there wouldn't be any control of the axel and one might cock up the inner axel seal.
And there would still be plenty of clean up required.
For the front:
In order:
Pull wheels
Drive flanges
Brake calipers (hang with wire so they don't pull on hoses)
Wheel hubs (don't drop the outer bearing in the dirt)
Spindle, spindle seal, break dust cover.
Grab outer axel and rotate the birf so the flats are on top and bottom, slide axels out...