A Missouri man flying his drone stumbled upon a rare and breathtaking encounter — a mountain lion prowling through the brush in Saline County.

Jack Huston, owner of Midwest Deer Surveys, was scanning private property when he noticed what he thought was a deer. Switching camera angles revealed something far more unexpected — a mountain lion, a species rarely seen in Missouri.

“My heart rate got up there,” Huston recalled. “There were some deer not too far away, and I kept wondering if he was going to make a stalk.”

For about 15 minutes, Huston watched the predator quietly observing its surroundings before disappearing back into the wild. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, there’s no breeding population of mountain lions in the state, though young males occasionally travel hundreds of miles in search of territory.

The video, turned over to conservation officers, is being reviewed as what may be Missouri’s 121st verified sighting since 1994.

“I never thought it would happen,” Huston said. “I fly a lot of ground all over the country. We’ll see if another one pops up in the next couple of years.”

Officials are urging residents who believe they’ve spotted a mountain lion to report sightings online so the state’s large carnivore response team can investigate.