I shot a 44 mag handgun once, just once. I bought one right before deer season. At that time I did most of my deer hunting on a good mule I had. He was quite used to 30-30 and 12 gauge. When I would lift the gun he would immediately lower his head and ears. i guess so I wouldn't shoot an ear off.
Anyway, I spot a nice buck, sight in on him and fire. My mule turns back and looks at me like,"what the heck was that!" My ears rang for about 5-10 minutes. When I got back to camp with the deer, I sold the 44 to the first taker.
A very effective weapon, but not the easiest on ears and recoil, I can only imagine what a 50cal would be like to shoot.