Hunter's early storylines were highly praised by fans, with his attempted murder at the hands of Scarlett Valentine winning "Favourite Moment" in the "Throng Shortland Street Fan Awards" 2007. In the same awards, Hunter also won "Funniest Moment" for hiding in the nude. His relationship with Tess was criticized, winning runner up in dodgiest moment and his kiss with Nate, runner up for "Strangest Moment". Hunter's drug addiction and subsequent personality change had a hugely differing reception in the 2011 fan awards, with the storyline winning runner up for "Favourite major storyline", while also winning "Most Boring Storyline". Hunter also took out "Character you'd most like to get rid of". In 2012, the character was named as one of the standout characters of the show's first 20 years.