A 1957 graduate of Buckeye High School in eastern Rapides Parish, Gunter was voted "Most Athletic" and class president in his senior year. He attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and Louisiana College at Pineville. A physically large man, Gunter had the build of a hard-working farmer and outdoorsman with large, rough hands and square jaws. In the early 1980s, Gunter accidentally chopped off the first joint of his index finger while doing farmwork. He could not retrieve the body part to have it sewn back on because his dog ate the end of his finger.