How did Leif Enger in Peace Like a River take the non-universal experience of hunting in the freezing cold and render it a universal “moment”?

Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger,
follows the Land family on an extraordinary journey. The family consists of Jeremiah
Land and his three children: Davy, Reuben, and his daughter Swede. They live in the
rather rustic north, and the three children go goose-hunting early one morning and then
come home for a bit. Reuben says:

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That's how goose-hunting is--you rise early and
do the cold, thrilling work; then come in and eat; then fatigue sneaks up and knocks you
flat.

After they are rested,
the three kids go hunting again that "afternoon, under skies so cold frost paisleyed the
gunbarrels." Davy lets Swede, desperate to shoot a goose, take the first shot. As an
older brother, he is patient and allows her to fail before stepping in and killing the
escaping bird. Their hunting trip is successful.

It is fair
to assume that not many people have gone hunting on a frigid morning or even an
afternoon when it was so cold that guns frost over; as you say, it is a "non-universal
experience." While this is not an extraordinary event for the Lands, what makes the
scene universal is the companionship and cooperation of family to accomplish a
goal.

Getting up early to do something together, then
coming home and taking a nap before doing the next thing, is something most of us can
understand and have experienced. Enger is able to take an out-of-the-ordinary experience
and make it ordinary and universal by connecting it to something his readers have
experienced.