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Well, I really think you can make a difference int his young man's life. Children of divorces can have problems caused by the divorce, by the parent they live with, by the situation that caused the divorce, or other reasons. Getting him into a two parent home with two caring parents can be significant in and of itself.

I noticed quite a few people (including the original poster) have mentioned the discipline necessary in raising the child. Discipline is very necessary but I found that a reward component is just as necessary. I have found, through my experience raising seven kids, that raising a child has to be based on a reward and punishment system. You must punish them when they did wrong (the means of punishment depends on what they do and your personal system) but you must also reward them when they do right. In the specific case, you might let the child know that you will take him shooting and teach him the skills as a reward when he shows good behavior. This might be the incentive he needs, combined with the rest of the changes, to become the person we would all lik ehim to be.

I have found, also, that showing your love for the child is critical. This is most critical when you have finished disciplining him. it helps him to set the discipline in his mind as solely related to his behavior and not related to your feelings about him. It will make the discipline more effective to do this. One of my biggest regrets is that I learned this the hard way with my oldest and it took us a long time with him as an adult to get over some of the problems.

I noticed several people referred to how they were raised. I did this also. I took the best of how my parents treated me, made sure not to do the things I thought they did wrong, and then tried to learn from the new mistakes I made. this is probably good advice for you also. Take the good, forget the bad, and learn from your mistakes.

Since you already have some kids, you probably already know most of what I said, but I thought it should be included in the thread.