By "personal," he doesn't mean that the issue is private, but that the issue is individualistic, as in each shooter having a personal preference as to what they like.
This thread has started to come across as one of those, "If you don't hunt my way, you are hunting wrong threads." Sort of reminds me of the Pigman picking on his father, Dap, for shooting pigs in the head. Pigman keeps arguing that Dap doesn't need to shoot hogs in the head to kill them and that he shouldn't be doing it. Dap keeps right on killing hogs by shooting them in the head. No, he doesn't NEED to do that, but by golly it works for him.
You don't need an AR15 with a Photon, Ace Skeleton stock, 20 round magazine to launch 55 gr. FMJ bullets at a hog, but we all have a lot of personal preference as to what we like to shoot that works for us. Not picking on you OS, as my .223 AR15 with a Photon has a UNV20IR illuminator and MDVR on it as well, plus I use a 20 round mag.
The OP is right, there is a lot of made up garbage about what is needed to hunt hogs. It isn't that the hogs are that smart or that tough, but that hunters are that naive. I am apt to believe a lot of hunters (based on various attitudes expressed at the local store and here online) are more apt to take a crappy shot at a hog and blame the ammo or the claimed toughness of the hog for the hog running away they they would do for a deer. Apparently, hogs don't deserve certain considerations for some reason that are afforded to other animals.
I will say this, however, while it is silly to complain about gear that is too good, I would much rather see people complaining about naive hunters using gear that is more than necessary to do the job and getting the job done than using gear insufficient for the job. There is some gee-whiz ammo out there, varmint loads, and some calibers that are just wrong for the jobs that hunters are trying to do with them.
Personally, I like it when people use premium ammo, because then their excuse stories are much more interesting for why they failed to drop an animal. Using premium ammo removes the validity of the ammo excuse since they bought the ammo and they think it is all that and a bag of chips.
Old Stony, like it or not, hunting is not a science for many or maybe most hunters. It is a religion - a very faith-based religion where the hunters buy their magic bullets, magic rifles, magic scopes, magic clothing, often fail to sight-in properly (
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=401369&highlight=sight), and often make shots they are praying will connect with the target. After all, the prey is often a creature of mythical capabilities requiring magic and faith.
As my friend says, "That hog/deer/bobcat/coyote didn't get that big by being dumb." To which I always reply, "No Jimmyjoebob, he got that big by eating."