I think scope mounting is the main reason, also mounting relatively level to the front sight so that the front sight doesn’t have to stick up a mile to work. These are hunting rifles with lightweight tapered barrels, not bull barrel target guns. And with that design philosophy quick sight acquisition is easier with less distance between them. That lack of a long sight plane will slightly hinder the shooter going for very tight groups, but most shooters who want tight groups would probably not want to use the built in irons anyway, they’d either use a scope or attach some kind of adjustable peep.
Finally, a rear iron sight mounted well away from the eye is easier for older eyes to focus on, which may or may not be a design choice but probably fits the market since they likely assume the younger crowd is buying a semi-auto of some sort.