David,
What don't you understand about "...to aid in the hunting or taking of deer." If you're carrying it to use for safety, to call your wife about dinner plans or to inform your hunting partner that you'll meet them back at the truck for lunch it's fine and legal. If you're calling your partner to tell him that there's a deer headed his way and to get ready, that's illegal. Pretty straightforward and simple, same as here in AK, yet we seem to see guys getting pinched for it every year.
Exactly... you're at the mercy of the warden. It doesn't say you can call your friend to touch base. It says you can't use it without explanation. Just like a lighted sight pin here in NY. It says you can't have a light that projects toward the animal, yet the warden I ask said he'd write a ticket if you had a light to brighten your pins. Not shining a light toward the animal but that's the deal.