Desert Eagle As A Hunting Weapon?

Yes it is good for hunting. And honestly, I don't see a reason why it shouldn't be the one :) It's a good choice for handgun hunter. Strange it is - People who don't have DE or never had it, or fired one clip from it complain about desert eagle a lot & those who own it, not that much at all :) ( Check the DE owners survey - what DE owners say about it's reliability, interesting isn't it ;) I've heard different "compliments" about DE, that includes - piece of s@#, pot metal chunk, junk & others.
Whenever asking the question why do they think so, mostly their answer is the same - either the guy couldn't shoot this gun well & of course he is blaming desert eagle & not himself (which is not original, most of the human beings tend to blame anything but themselves for their faults or mistakes ;), either he saw someone (most likely with .50 AE desert eagle, rented at the shooting range ) & since that pal couldn't handle the gun & was putting projectiles into the skies anr/or dirt, but couldn't hit the target, he decided that desert eagle was the source of the evil, not the novice shooter :)

Let's see what are desert eagle opponents are claiming & complaining:

DE is too big - please, come on :) Is desert eagle bigger than Freedom Arms or Ruger hunting revolvers, Colt Anaconda, or single shot pistols like Contender, Lone Eagle, Dominator? I don't think so, you don't believe, please check the specs.
DE is too heavy - In fact this is only a part of the truth :) Yes, Desert Eagle is approx. 1 lb. heavier than Ruger or Freedom arms revolvers, but let's think is that so much disadvantage? 1 extra lb. first of all, does reduce recoil significantly. Then, if carried on the hip is it that much difference? Let's not forget that mostly people are hunting with rifles or shotguns around 6-10 lb. & more.
DE is difficult to shoot - It is different but not difficult. Now, if your palms & fingers are rather small, most likely shooting desert eagle or any other gun of this size will pose some problems to you, but before you buy a handgun it is a good idea to hold it in your hands for a couple minutes or even rent it & shoot, right? So, assuming that you got hands big enough to hold normally this weapon, what could prevent you from accurate shooting? Weight? How many rounds are you gonna fire at a time, when hunting? So the weight shouldn't be a problem, the rest already was said - desert eagle's fixed barrel & smooth action gives you a very accurate weapon.
In general it is a problem for an average shooter to get used to shooting those powerfull rounds like .44 Magnum, .454 Casull etc. so is .50 AE. It is more powerful, and requires more efforts to handle it properly, but here desert eagle's weight and gas system is a great help.
DE is not reliable - Well, was discussed above, take good care of it, use good ammo & most importantly learn how to shoot it, this is nothing impossible or difficult.

The rules are simple:

Do Not Press the magazine butt upwards;
Absolutely No Wrist Limping;
Keep the shooting hand straight & absorb the recoil with your sholder keeping your hand straight;

Tee last one is sort of hard to remember for many shooters, as the recoi is significant, and besides many folks developed their shooting techniques[of large caliber handguns] with revolvers, and that's exactly what you do with the revolver. After firing a shot, you let it go up, and it's ok to relax your elbows. However that's not an option with DEP.

Once you get knowing how to do all the above, you will not have problems. The only jam I've had in my .50 AE caliber desert eagle (which is the most cussed one) happened not during the shooting but when I was reloading the magazine, after releasing the slide, cartridge got stuck in the breech, CCI 325 Gr. SJHP rounds have kind of different bulllet tips, lead exposed over the copper jacket. That's it, not a single jamm after that. However when I was begining shooting my DE I've had lots of problems (jamming) even with my .357 Magnum DE ;) One thing is true, if you don't have some good ammo & don't shoot well with DE it's better to take a revolver or something else to hunt, especially if you are hunting dangerous game. In general many hunters have strong opinion against using semi-autos for dangerous game.

DE ammo is less versatile - This one is true, I agree here, but again, let's look at this from hunter's perspective :) How important is it?

Yes, you can not shoot lead & underpowered loads but how many rounds do you shoot per hunt? Thousands? May be Hundreds? I think not ;) Would you like to go after your game with underpowered loads? Again, less likely, isn't it ;) After all, those underpowered loads are called "Target Practice" loads aren't they :) For target practicing it is more important to be able to shoot lead, no one is questioning that, but hunting is different story. However nothing comes for free & this was a price to pay for DE advantages like gas system, higher accuracy & lesser recoil.