A close eye is being kept on the Queen Elizabeth Park deer park after an incident in which the fence was cut and deer escaped into Lansdowne Street and on to the park oval.
Members of the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association, who look after the deer park, and six police officersspent three hours corralling the deer back into their enclosures.
Mark Morison was taking a stroll when he came across the fallow deer calmly walking down Totara Street.
"I thought they shouldn't be there. This is irregular," he said.
He blocked the deer from walking further but was stopped by Masterton police, who were herding them in that direction on foot and with a police car.
Deerstalkers' Wairarapa president Phil Gray said while seven fallow deer toured the hospital grounds and as far north as French Street, the five red deer huddled at the Queen Elizabeth Oval.
The red deer proved more of a challenge to rescue than initially expected after they were herded back to their pen but ran out again through the unrepaired hole.
Mr Gray said it took until 10.30am before they were able to mend the fences and put the deer back.
"I think they were probably relieved to be back in the home, when they were out they were being chased and molested."
While he could now appreciate the lighter side of the incident he said at the time everyone had something better to do on Saturday morning and it was lucky there hadn't been more serious consequences.
"What if one had caused a car crash, you know? That's probably getting a bit severe but it's possible."
Mr Gray had no idea who would deliberately cut the fences but suspected vandals on the Friday night or early Saturday morning.
The Deerstalkers Association built the pen in 1970 and while it is more common to see caged deer nowadays, the association maintains the pen because the deer still draw crowds.
The park has had a few rough patches in its history. In 1979 two pregnant hinds were stolen and later shot and decapitated.
In the 1980s the pens were periodically attacked and in one instance loose dogs killed one deer.
