What would have been gutsy is immediately upon learning where OBL was, you declare war on Pakistan for sheltering him, and then proceed to bomb them into oblivion and destroy their nukes, kill all of their scientists. Now that would have been gutsy.
Waiting over six months until somebody else literally forces your hand to act, and even then having Panetta make the call for you, is not what I call “gutsy”.
Gutsy? The biggest decision Obama made during the Osama raid was which card to play.