Tasmanian tigers were hunted extensively on the Central Plateau. For more information, see: <http://www.naturalworlds.org/thylacine/history/bushmen/bushmen_2.htm>

The main events of the film take place in the glaciated highland wilderness of Tasmania's Central Plateau with its spectacular tarns and ancient pencil pines. The The Central Plateau is a conservation area for flora and fauna that is 1,000 metres above sea level in the Central Highlands. It is dotted with numerous lakes and its waterways are important sources of Tasmania's hydroelectric power. The plateau is bounded by the dolerite cliffs of Walls of Jerusalem National Park and the beautiful Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. The area is virtually unpopulated other than the town of Bothwell and isolated trout fishing lodges. Great Lake is the largest permanent natural freshwater lake in Australia and the string of lakes known as Solomon's Jewels is named on the map and in Bike's drawing as a location where Martin searches for the thylacine.

Views of the Derwent Bridge buttongrass plains and Mount King William, located in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park  are seen in The Hunter.

Since the fictional hotel is located in France, coordinates are given for the shooting location in Hobart.

Loggers Pub at National Park in the Derwent Valley .

The small logging towns of Maydena and National Park provide settings for the pub, general store, and forest walks on the way up to the Central Plateau.

Martin hikes through mountain streams in the Meander Valley and passes by a waterfall during his search for the thylacine.

Pine Lake is seen in aerial photography as well as in misty scenes at dusk and dawn.

The Tarkine wilderness is in Tasmania’s far north-west between the Southern Ocean to the West, the Arthur River to the north, the Pieman River to the south, and the Murchison Highway to the east. 

The Tarkine Wilderness is identified as a narrative setting on a poster inside the Armstrong house where Martin stays, although the film itself is shot well to the east of this region. The Tarkine region  is named for the Tarkiner Aboriginal group who formerly inhabited the area, leaving a rich history of archeological sites. The Tarkine was also home to a large population of Tasmanian Tigers.  

The logging protesters camp out with signs saying "Save the Upper Florentine" in scenes shot at an actual forest blockade. The Upper Florentine is at Junction Hill near Lake Gordon and Maydena. The Florentine River runs past Florentine Peak and Tiger Range, northeast of Maydena, and flows into Lake Catagunya on its way to joining the River Derwent. 

In The Hunter and in real life environmentalists and loggers clash over land clearing's environmental cost and economic benefits. Land clearing is controversial because it:

1) Destroys native vegetation and forests with centuries-old trees—such as myrtle, sassafras, leatherwood and celery-top pine.

2) Destroys habitat for native birds and wildlife that die from exposure, starvation, and stress.

3) Causes water that was once used by plants to rise through the soil bringing salt deposits with it. The salt water makes the soil less productive for farming, and taints river and water supplies. Damage from salt water also has the potential to affect foundations, parks, gardens, roads, and buildings in towns and cities.

4) Emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere through bulldozing, and rotting and burning bush. See: http://www.bushheritage.org.au/natural_world/natural_world_land_clearing

Martin makes phone calls on the pay phone outside the Westerway Store, where he purchases cleaning products to scour the filthy tub at the Armstrong house. He converses with an environmental activist called Free about steel traps while he buys petrol at the Westerway Roadhouse.