Free e-cards cover loads of different genres, some may make you giggle, others may make you cry. Because of all the different genres, it will be easy for you to find a suitable card to celebrate hunting and fishing week. One of my favorite things about free e-cards is they can be sent from just about anywhere in the world, as long as you have a computer connected to the web.

Free e-cards are very rapidly overtaking the paper card market, and in just a few years, I think that it will start to become fairly strange not to be receiving at least one or two free e-cards for your birthday or Christmas alike. Free e-cards can include almost any message you want.

A vehicle of introduction to outdoor sports and honoring the pioneers of wildlife conservation efforts in the United States, this holiday was first nationally observed on September 23, 1972. Avid sportsman Theodore Roosevelt, who advocated 'wise use' policy for outdoor resources, coined the term conservation to signify the protection of the natural cycles that make life and regeneration possible.

The early conservationists instituted the maintenance of state wildlife agencies through selling licenses and taxing equipment as well as insisting upon the prohibition of market hunting, a practice otherwise known as poaching.

The resolution presented and passed in Congress declared the following objectives for National Hunting and Fishing Day: "to provide that deserved national recognition, to recognize the aesthetic, health, and recreational virtues of hunting and fishing, to dramatize the continued need for gun and boat safety, and to rededicate ourselves to the conservation and respectful use of our wildlife and natural resources."

This holiday should be perceived as "A Natural Invitation to Step Outside," in the words of one National Hunting and Fishing Day motto. Country and city folk alike can enjoy this celebration of the outdoors by getting involved in a variety of activities, including archery, camping, hiking, rock-climbing, target shooting, boating, not mention the holiday's namesakes - hunting and fishing.

Though there are National Hunting and Fishing Day festivities across the country, the annual Southern Illinois Celebration is by far the largest with 35,000 guests and participants reported in 1998. Held in Carterville, Illinois, the occasion will be marked by a nature art show, festive banquet, featured speaker and more.

Your free e-card could simply be just a small, simple reminder to your hunting and/or your fishing buddies, that it is that time of year again and you need to get back out to the great outdoors. Your free e-card could contain a few pointers on fishing or hunting, or it could be a reminder about a date you have set up to go. So make sure you make the day special for all.