It's deer season now, and hunting is permitted all over the San Gabriel Mountains.
As for day hikes, I personally enjoy climbing to a summit, and one of my favorite summit hikes is Baden-Powell, at 9,399 feet. It is easy to get to the trailhead at Vincent Gap, and the hike has an elevation gain of 2,834 feet in four miles. Very nice views of the desert and northern San Gabes.
Baden-Powell photos
My favorite day hike in the San Gabes is Ontario Peak via Icehouse Saddle. It is eerily beautiful up there near the top, where a fire ravaged the area twenty years ago leaving a forest of bare snags.
This is a 8,693 foot summit accessible via a 6.2 mile hike with 3,793 foot of elevation gain. You can add some mileage to this hike by heading up Bighorn Peak as well.
Icehouse Canyon is very accessible, with a parking lot about a mile above Baldy village. You need a Wilderness Permit for any hike via Icehouse Saddle.
Ontario Peak photos
Another great hike out of Icehouse, though not as pretty as Ontario, is Cucamonga Peak. It's a 8,859 foot summit via a six mile hike with 3,959 foot of elevation gain. Again, you can go a little farther and hit Etiwanda Peak on the same hike.
Cucamonga Peak photos
It should take you a lot less than nine hours for any of these hikes.
Unlike our Admin, I really enjoy climbing Mt Baldy, but unless you are on the trail very early in the morning it is a crowded mess on the weekends. I bet there are easily as many as fifty people on the top some Saturdays.
There are a lot of nice canyon and streambed hikes, but I am not so interested in those, so someone else will have to chime in.