A good lease starts with good members. Nothing else matters if the members don't believe they can trust each other. It doesn't matter if you have no rules or lots of rules, if you don't have good people who can get along and trust each other.
Typically, when there are 4 or fewer "members" on a lease, there may be no need for any rules, since it's easy to coordinate everything with so few people. But for many of us, financial considerations would constrain us to a relatively small hunting acreage if only 4 of us were sharing the costs. Nothing wrong with hunting a smaller acreage, but if you're wanting to play a larger role in the actual deer management (not just the hunting), you will usually need at least several hundred acres.
Many hunters are getting about as much enjoyment from the deer management as the deer hunting. Larger tracts are needed for deer management, and generally the larger the tract, the more rewards can be more easily achieved for your efforts. If you have little interest in the herd management, you really just need a place to hunt, which really need not be a lease or a club.
On a lease of several hundred acres and more, there will generally be a need for at least several members. The more paying members you have, the less the cost can be per paying member. The fewer paying members you have, the more the cost, but the less need for any rules.
If you have 5 members paying all the costs for 1,000 acres, there may be little need for any rules or worries about guests. Things are much different if you have 20 or more members on that 1,000 acres, which may necessitate the need for limited or "no guest" policies, as well as other rules.
From a club management perspective, a "no guest" policy can be the fairest (everyone pays to play), and the easiest way to prevent potential problems among members. That does not mean it can't be "family" friendly. Some clubs simply have much lower dues for spouses and children, under which arrangement they are actually a special "member" rather than a guest.
One "work around" a "no guest" policy is to consider special but optional "guest" memberships (purchased by a member) which allows those members who want to bring a guest that privilege, but they pay extra for that privilege. And that "extra" allows the club to operate with fewer members when some members pay a lot extra so they can bring a guest.
So many different ways things can be done. I like keeping membership dues as low as possible per regular member and still have a quality and safe hunting situation. Those with hunting spouses and children pay only slightly more. Those who want to bring guests are allowed, but they pay extra for that privilege. Such an arrangement can keep a diverse membership happy, since some hunters may not have anyone they want to bring, and all their hunting buddies are also members.
From my observations, problems in clubs/leases have seldom had much to do with either any rules or a lack of rules, but more to do with the people having or causing the problems.
