The film was shot in 61 days in Alberta, Canada.
Hold the Dark is the first film Jeremy Saulnier directed without also having written the screenplay.
While the original bison population was hunted to extinction, 100 Wood Bison from Canada were introduced to southwestern Alaska in 2015. However, the events of the film occur in 2005, ten years earlier.
In the opening scenes Russel Core is seen stopped by then driving past a North American Bison. Bison have been extinct in Alaska for over 100 years.
Principal photography began on February 27, 2017, and concluded on April 26, 2017. Filming took place in and around the areas surrounding Calgary, Drumheller and Kananaskis Country, Alberta, which were used to substitute for Alaska.