Let me try to shed a little light. At least this is my perspective.
Depending on weather conditions, hunting technique, my mood, or celestial alignment, I may decide to go out without a scope mounted on my Hunter. A shorter barrel is a plus when I want to tote the gun around with just the irons. My state mandates 6" min bbl length, so another gun with a 4 5/8 or 5.5" barrel is useless.
Add to that the fact that the Leupold 2x can be mounted atop the Hunter and still be back far enough to be protected from muzzle blast on a 6" barrel. And just about any red dot will be clear as well.
And finally, of all places, I thought this forum was a place that you didn't have to worry about answering the question of WHY