Michael Landon wrote and directed this episode. The script was only 39 pages long, making it the shortest script of the series.
This show completed filming on November 8, 1972 (Michael Landon, who was directing, got telephoned orders to hurry it up). It wrapped six days after "Alias Smith and Jones" finished principal photography (and aired three days after Smith and Jones' last telecast), leaving only "Gunsmoke" and "Kung Fu" to represent the Western genre.
This show drew a 15.3 rating, about half as many viewers as had seen the most-watched shows of the series in spring 1964.
According to Associated Press reporter Jay Sharbutt's column, which appeared in the January 13, 1973 issue of the Aberdeen, South Dakota's newspaper "Aberdeen Daily News," "The Hunter" was the last show produced for the Bonanza series. The teleplay was written and directed by "Little Joe," or Michael Landon. The series had aired since September 12, 1959. Over 13 years, 430 original performances were shown. In September 1972, NBC aired the show opposite CBS television's "Maude." Bonanza's ratings dropped significantly, and in November NBC decided "to put the show out to pasture."
There are absolutely no women in this episode, not even uncredited "extras." (Most rare, if ever, for the 14-season Series.)