20” is about as short as I care to have a barrel that is chambered for any kind of high intensity rifle cartridge. Yes, I use ear protection even when hunting, but I have found myself all set up in a stand and the ear pro back in the truck.
I shoot a lot of clay target sports and I think that might make me a bit more aware of balance/handling dynamics with my rifles as well…maybe more so than the guy who shoots his rifle off the bench a lot but comes hunting season seldom if ever hunts in a manner that requires quick close range shooting in the woods. I’ve shot the larger portion of my deer with both feet in the ground and no rest. I’ve done it with some short-barreled rifles as well as a number of rifles with 24 - 26 inch barrels. (Not to mention shotgun slugs out of 28” tubes.) My preferred barrel length starts about 22”. Not to say I don’t go shorter, but I like them longer.
I don’t put much credence in the idea that really short barrels are a lot handier in “the brush.” To hear some guys talk they hunt where you need a couple of natives with machetes chopping the way through the woods for you. Believe me, having done more than a few decades of this stuff, if you can make your way through the woods walking (without a couple of natives with machetes) three or four inches of barrel length doesn’t make a bit of difference.
